Tokyo Olympics: Ahead of opening ceremony on July 23, Olympic flame arrives at Japanese capital
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is just around the corner as the organisers are doing the last moment preparations for the same in full flow. Meanwhile, ahead of the opening ceremony on July 23, the Olympic Flame has reached the Japanese capital.
FollowWith just 14 days to go before the Tokyo Olympic 2020 gets started, the organisers are stepping up the preparations at the final moment. Also, with challenges surrounding the pandemic, strict measures are being put in place.
The global extravaganza is scheduled to get started from July 23, Â with the opening ceremony. As a result, ahead of the same, the Olympic Flame has arrived at the Japanese capital.
According to Olympics.com, the flame would now travel across the city for two weeks before being used to light up the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony. After arriving at the Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium (the venue for the 1964 Olympics) in Tokyo, the flame was welcomed through a ceremony.
"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have helped to make the Torch Relay a successful one. We have been able to overcome these difficult conditions with the help of the people all over Japan and with a lot of ingenuity," Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko was quoted as saying.
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Paralympic shooter Taguchi Aki carried the flame to the podium. She had also lit the cauldron during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay restart in March this year. "I could feel that the torchbearers have put a lot of thought [into running with] the flame. Some ran with gratitude while others had different personal reasons for taking part," she reckoned.
Also, former Japanese tennis professional Matsuoka Shuzo said, Although we felt interrupted in our hearts following the postponement of the Games, the flame did not give up. Despite all the difficulties, the flame has been carrying the thoughts of the Japanese people and people around the world, from one place to another, now it arrives here. I would like to say thank you to people's thoughts."
The flame's journey began in Greece in Match last year before being handed over to Tokyo at the Panathenaic Stadium a week later. However, its global journey was halted last year due to the COVID pandemic, while the Games was postponed. Nonetheless, the flame continued to burn at the Olympic museum.
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