John Coates: Shinzo Abe was a force behind the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Shinzo Abe made the Tokyo 2020 Olympics possible says John Coates, the Australian who supervised those Games for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“He was always there,” says Coates of the former prime minister who was assassinated July 8 after speaking at political rally in western Japan.

Abe was the longest serving prime minister for Japan when he resigned in 2020 after eight years in the post. He took office when Tokyo was bidding for the Olympics. In 2013 he travelled to the IOC Session in Buenos Aires that selected Tokyo as the host of 2020. And he resigned in 2020 after agreeing to the extraordinary move to postpone the Tokyo Games by one year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was with Abe a number of times during the years of preparation,” Coates tells Around the Rings.

“He was approachable, likeable, the constant behind the success of the Games,” says Coates, who served as chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Tokyo from 2013 to 2021.

Coates says Abe’s leadership was never more crucial than during the conference call April 12, 2020 that led to the postponement of the Games. Initially asserting the Olympics would take place as planned regardless of the pandemic, the IOC and Tokyo organizers realized a different response was needed.

“It was an amazing discussion with Bach, Abe and the mayor of Tokyo. There was no arguing over what it would cost. Abe agreed Japan would cover the domestic side of any increased costs while the IOC would contribute its share of the postponement costs,” said Coates. He says Abe’s even-handed resolve “prevented the collapse of the Games.”

Just five months after the decision on postponement, Abe stepped down as prime minister citing a recurrence of colitis. The change elevated Suga Yoshihide to the post. Yoshihide, a long time aide to Abe in the Liberal Democratic Party, was a stable if unassuming successor to Abe says Coates.

“These were not his Games,” Coates says of Yoshihide.

“I was concerned at first, but meetings with him were good. And Abe’s influence remained, just in the background,” he says.

Coates says Abe’s surprise appearance at the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics was a peak example of his zeal to bring the Olympics back to Japan.

As a video played during the portion of the ceremony for Tokyo 2020 depicting Abe running late to join the Rio ceremony, the prime minister suddenly appeared, dressed as gaming character Super Mario.

“That says it all that he was prepared to do it,” says Coates, noting how uncharacteristic it was for a Japanese leader to be such a showman.

Coates says the last time he saw Abe was a year ago at the postponed Games. After dozens of trips from Australia to Japan since 2013, Coates has yet to return since the flame went out in Tokyo. He’s due to return in October where he says Abe’s Olympic legacy remains.

“These were his Games,” Coates declares.