Olympic Flag Arrives in Tokyo

(ATR) Ceremony marks arrival of flag in the 2020 Olympic host city.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike held the Olympic flag aloft after arriving in the Japanese capital on a plane from Rio, in a symbolic moment for the next Summer Games hosts.

Koike, appointed as governor last month, was joined by Japanese Olympians at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. She received the flag from Rio mayor Eduardo Paes at the Aug. 21 Rio Games closing ceremony held at at Maracanã Stadium. It will be kept at the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The arrival of the flag in Tokyo was marked with a ceremony attended by Governor Koike, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto, the Japanese Olympic team captain Saori Yoshida and flagbearer, decathlete Keisuke Ushiro.

"I am delighted to have the honor of bringing the Olympic Flag to Tokyo for a second time," said Koike, referencing the city’s second hosting of the Games after the 1964 Olympics.

Thanking the Tokyo 2020 team involved in preparations to date, she added: "Together with all of you, I am looking forward to delivering a truly successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020," she added.

At a press conference in Rio on Monday, she underlined the weight of responsibility she felt after receiving the flag. "We have only four years. I will make the Games succeed. We have to act with speed and we will put things right," she said.

Koike has pledged to establish a committee to monitor the Games budget after costs rocketed for different venues, including the old Olympic stadium plan.

"We are going to have to cut costs. We need to reaffirm what is needed and leave out what is not needed," she told reporters.

At a meeting with Tokyo 2020 president on Aug. 9, Koike underlined her no-nonsense approach, saying she had told Yoshiro Mori "to decrease the cost so as to be understood by citizens".

Koike’s said the budget panel for the 2020 Games is expected to release its report by the end of September.

Over the coming year, the Olympic flag will be exhibited in more than 62 sites around Tokyo and in the three prefectures affected by the 2011 East Japan earthquake, to reinforce growing support for the Games in Japan during the Rio Olympics.

Muto applauded the support of fans in Japan during the 2016 Games. "From now, as the hosts of the next Summer Olympics, we aim to generate real 3/3 passion for the Games, doing everything possible to inspire the world’s youth and successfully stage the world's greatest sporting event in the heart of Tokyo," he said.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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