Japan Update -- Hope Remains for Olympic Bid; Triathlon Troubles; Copa America Reversal

Japan Holds Out Hope for 2020 Olympic Bid

A Japanese Olympic leader says his country should be looking to stage more sporting events in the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake, including the 2020 Olympics.

"We need to be hosting major international events to inspire the whole nation, to encourage the youth of Japan to move forward and aspire to be champions and to significantly boost the morale of the whole nation," Japanese Olympic Committee vice president Masato Mizuno told The Associated Press during SportAccord.

"International sporting events will also help the international community realize that most of Japan is functioning."

On March 11, an earthquake in Japan triggered a tsunami, leaving more than 12,700 dead and almost 15,000 missing to date. Recovery efforts are still underway, and the country’s nuclear power plants remain volatile.

Whether that triple-blow will curb Japan’s appetite for 2020 remains unclear.

JOC international relations director Yasuhiro Nakamori told Around the Rings late last month bid plans have not been abandoned, a stance echoed this week by Mizuno.

"We believe this amount of money is worth it," he told AP.

"We don’t know that we will run or not, but we will do our best."

The JOC is waiting until mid-July to pick between Tokyo and Hiroshima for three reasons. Gubernatorial elections this Sunday could impact government support, the NOC will celebrate its centennial July 16 and, of course, a PyeongChang win for 2018 would likely end consideration for either bid.

The figure-skating world championships as well as a number of soccer fixtures are among the quake’s sporting casualties, and the International Gymnastics Federation will decide next month whether October’s artistic world champs will remain in Tokyo.

Top Triathletes Refuse to Race in Japan

Triathlon’s reigning Olympic champions say they won’t race next month’s event in Japan.

"The day I got the email saying the race was going ahead, I saw news reports that said the Japanese were dumping 11.5 million liters of radioactive water into the ocean 300 kilometers up the road," German gold medalist Jan Frodeno told The Australian on Friday.

"That didn't strike me as safe."

Australia’s own Emma Snowsill likewise plans to boycott the International Triathlon Union’s decision given quake-struck Japan’s current nuclear emergency.

The race will have athletes swimming 1.5 km in Yokohama Harbour, located 300 km south of the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor.

An item posted Friday on the ITU’s website cites "the United Nations organizations closely monitoringthe situation" in dismissing the dangers at play when top triathletes visit May 14-15.

"Radioactivematerial from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant is gradually spreading outside Japan into the global atmosphere but at extremely low concentrations that do not present health or transportation safety hazards," the statement reads.

Yokohama is the second of seven stops on the Dextro Energy ITU Triathlon World Championship Series, a competition in which athletes vie for the title of world champion while earning Olympic qualification points.

The series kicks off Saturday in Sydney and wraps up in Beijing in September.

Japan Withdraws, Then Rethinks Copa America

Japan is reconsidering its decision to forgo July’s Copa America competition at the insistence of its Argentinean organizers.

"They wanted to position the South American championship as an event to support Japan's reconstruction," Japan Football Association vice president Kozo TashimatoldAFP this week.

"It won't be easy to reach a conclusion. We could either withdraw or go,"

The reversal comes days after JFA president Junji Ogura visited Paraguay to inform CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz of his country’s withdrawal.

Argentina Football Association president Julio Grondona and CONMEBOL secretary general Eduardo Deluca then convinced Ogura to rethink the decision the following day.

"We have asked them to make a final effort and we are going to help them - they have many players based abroad who surely would be amenable to participating," Deluca told AFP.

Football has been all but nonexistent in Japan as the country struggles to rebound from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Two AFC Champions League matches with Japanese teams playing at home are postponed indefinitely due to quake damage, and a pair of friendlies against Montenegro and New Zealand were also cancelled last month.

J. League action, on hold since the 9.0-magnitude struck Japan, restarts on April 23. The five rounds of suspended games will be played in July, a period already blocked off to free players for the Copa America.

Japan will only play if federation leaders can persuade J.League clubs to release their players.

Twelve teams will face off over a month's time in what is association football's oldest national team competition. Because CONMEBOL has only 10 members, both Mexico and AFC Asian Cup champion Japan received invites for 2011.

Spain has been approached to replace Japan if the JFA ends up withdrawing.

Written by Matthew Grayson.