POSTED: 2012-07-18 07:07:18
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
July 18 – The Tokyo 2020 bid delegation has announced that they will depart for London 2012 this Sunday July 22nd where they will be scouting the summer Games as observers. The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) will announce their final team for the Games this Saturday, July 21.
The will be working with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the official International Olympic Committee (IOC) Observer Programme to gain valuable knowledge and experience about the successful running of the Games.
Tsunekazu Takeda, head of the JOC and the bid, said, “Our delegation’s goal is to interact with organising officials and soak up as much information as possible to enhance Tokyo 2020’s Candidature File.
“Our visit to London is a key step in helping us fine-tune the best Games Plan possible for Tokyo 2020, and to eventually stage Games of excellence and excitement that will delight Japanese people and the world.
“For an event of this magnitude, attended by the public and international dignitaries alike, every detail is important.”
Apart from Takeda, the bid delegation will include: Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo and Tokyo 2020 Chairman; Masato Mizuno, JOC Vice President and CEO of Tokyo 2020; Yasuhiro Nakamori, Director of the JOC President’s Office and Tokyo 2020 Executive Board Member; Yuko Arakida, Tokyo 2020 Sports Director and Chairperson of the Athletes Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia; and Tokyo 2020 Communications Director Tokuaki Suzuki.
Takeda added, “Tokyo 2020 is fully behind Japan’s Olympic and Paralympic Teams, and I hope that our athletes’ performance at these Games further ignites the Japanese passion for the Olympic Movement and helps promote our bid.
“The Games, the pinnacle of sport, have the power to unite and inspire, and I know that I, along with the rest of the nation, will be proudly watching our athletes striving for gold in London and inspiring a new generation of athletes in the process.”
Masato Mizuno talked about the learning value of the observer visit, “It is a marvellous opportunity to watch the Games in London, but we will be watching it as more than just enthusiastic spectators.
“In addition to enjoying what promises to be a celebration of the Olympic Movement, we will be paying close attention to the precision and detail that goes into organising the world’s greatest sporting event.”
Tokyo 2020 will host a press conference at the London MPC (Main Press Centre) on Saturday, 28 July, the day after the Opening Ceremony.
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
Keir Radnedge ()
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