IOC Checks on Tokyo Olympic Progress

(ATR) The IOC's inspection of Tokyo 2020 preparations will show "concrete progress" organizers say.

An IOC coordination commission visit, opening Tuesday, will scrutinise Tokyo's progress across the board including sports, venues, accommodation, transport, athletes' experience, NOCs and media operations.

IOC officials will meet with Tokyo 2020 and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials and be given a venue tour. The first venues for the 2020 Games have already been completed; the national stadium continues to take shape.

"We are delighted to have the members of the IOC coordination commission back in Tokyo for its latest meeting," Tokyo 2020 comms director Masa Takaya tellsAround the Rings.

"The members will also visit the newly built Musashino Forest Sport Plaza and the construction site of the Equestrian Park, and will be able to see first-hand the steady concrete progress of our preparations."

A key IOC concern - and one area for particular scrutiny this week - is the ever shifting costs of the 2020 Olympics. Earlier this year Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike revealed plans that call for increased spending on the Games. Tokyo 2020 quickly hit back to say these new costs should not be counted as budget increases.

The IOC check-up visit comes at a time when a second bidder for the 2026 Winter Olympics dropped out before the candidature phase. In June, voters rejected an Olympic project from Sion, Switzerland, while in Graz, Austria political differences scuttled the bid last week. Graz was scheduled to have a referendum in the coming months.

The IOC has consistently touted shaving over $1 billion from Tokyo 2020’s budget and included that in its "New Norm," bidding procedures. But a skeptical public in some of the Olympic bidding cities have been reluctant to believe the messaging.

Budget issues are just one of a number of scandals that have plagued preparations for the Olympics in Japan. The original Tokyo Olympic Stadium plans had to be completely shuttered due to rising costs - and redrawn. The delay caused Tokyo to be removed as a host city for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The new stadium is on schedule to be completed in advance of the 2020 Games.

After releasing its first logo for the Games, the designer was charged with plagiarism from a theater in Belgium. Tokyo 2020 quickly scrambled to commission a new design, and used a mascot committee to determine names for the mascots.

A survey by Japanese broadcaster NHK last month showed that 85 percentof people said they would not apply to be volunteers for the Games. This survey contrasts with regular polls the broadcaster has done that shows interest in the Games is over 75 percent from the Japanese public.

Tokyo 2020 have two upcoming milestones in the next weeks, which could inject some enthusiasm into the Japanese population. The names of the mascots will be revealed on July 22 as they make their first public appearance in Hibiya on the Sumida river. Days later Tokyo 2020 will pass the two years to go milestone.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Tokyo

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