Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, the poster girl of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, took to social media on Saturday to show her support for the decision to postpone the Games until next year
Osaka, who won the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019, was the central character in the video to launch Tokyo 2020s official motto for the Games, launched last month.
The coronavirus has since spread across the world, however, leading to last week's decision by the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee to postpone the Games.
Tokyo Olympics organisers are now eyeing next July as a start date for the Games, Japanese media reported Sunday.
Given the ongoing pandemic and need for preparation time, the most likely plan would be for the Games to begin on July 23, 2021, public broadcaster NHK said, citing sources within the organising panel.
Osaka acknowledge there was disappointment at the situation, but said they would be even stronger for next year.
“Everyone knows how much the Olympics means to me and how proud I will be to participate in my home country,” Osaka, the world No 10, wrote on Twitter.
“Of course, I am disappointed that it won’t happen this year but we’ll all [be] ready to be stronger ever in 2021! I support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s brave decision and the IOC 100%.
“This is the time for people from all countries, backgrounds and races to rally together to save as many lives as we can. To me, that is the Olympic spirit.
“To the people of Japan: stay strong, hang in there, and let's show the world our beautiful country when time is right in 2021.”
Osaka, the first Asian to be ranked world No 1, concluded with a message for her 500,000 plus Twitter followers.
“Stay safe everyone, take care of each other, be kind and we will make it through. Love, Naomi.”
Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother before being raised in the US, was chosen to lead Tokyo 2020s “United by Emotion” motto as the face of a changing country.
Japan, which has traditionally seen itself as a racially homogeneous country, is becoming more ethnically diverse and Osaka has been at the forefront of a new wave of sporting heroes set to represent the host nation at the Olympics.
The decision to move the Games to an earlier date next year came after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike raised the idea on Friday of hosting the event to a less hot and humid time of year.
She argued that this would make marathons and other races easier to endure, meaning they could be held in the capital instead of in northern Sapporo city, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided to move them.
The Tokyo 2020 team led by Yoshiro Mori is currently discussing possible dates with the IOC, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
The Olympics were scheduled to open on July 24 this year with the Paralympics on August 25, but Japan announced last week it had secured agreement from the IOC to postpone the Games — a decision unprecedented in peacetime.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they would be held in around a year instead as a testament to humanity's victory over the pandemic.
The decision had been seen to open options for Tokyo, with IOC chief Thomas Bach saying that “all the options are on the table” and rescheduling “is not restricted just to the summer months”.
Meanwhile, NHK said the Olympic flame would be displayed for a month at the J-Village sports complex in Fukushima, which was used as a base camp for thousands of relief workers in radiation protection suits during the 2011 nuclear disaster.
— Reuters
‘We’ll be stronger than ever in 2021,’ says Osaka
Image: JOSE JORDAN
Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, the poster girl of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, took to social media on Saturday to show her support for the decision to postpone the Games until next year
Osaka, who won the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019, was the central character in the video to launch Tokyo 2020s official motto for the Games, launched last month.
The coronavirus has since spread across the world, however, leading to last week's decision by the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee to postpone the Games.
Tokyo Olympics organisers are now eyeing next July as a start date for the Games, Japanese media reported Sunday.
Given the ongoing pandemic and need for preparation time, the most likely plan would be for the Games to begin on July 23, 2021, public broadcaster NHK said, citing sources within the organising panel.
Osaka acknowledge there was disappointment at the situation, but said they would be even stronger for next year.
“Everyone knows how much the Olympics means to me and how proud I will be to participate in my home country,” Osaka, the world No 10, wrote on Twitter.
“Of course, I am disappointed that it won’t happen this year but we’ll all [be] ready to be stronger ever in 2021! I support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s brave decision and the IOC 100%.
“This is the time for people from all countries, backgrounds and races to rally together to save as many lives as we can. To me, that is the Olympic spirit.
“To the people of Japan: stay strong, hang in there, and let's show the world our beautiful country when time is right in 2021.”
Osaka, the first Asian to be ranked world No 1, concluded with a message for her 500,000 plus Twitter followers.
“Stay safe everyone, take care of each other, be kind and we will make it through. Love, Naomi.”
Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother before being raised in the US, was chosen to lead Tokyo 2020s “United by Emotion” motto as the face of a changing country.
Japan, which has traditionally seen itself as a racially homogeneous country, is becoming more ethnically diverse and Osaka has been at the forefront of a new wave of sporting heroes set to represent the host nation at the Olympics.
The decision to move the Games to an earlier date next year came after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike raised the idea on Friday of hosting the event to a less hot and humid time of year.
She argued that this would make marathons and other races easier to endure, meaning they could be held in the capital instead of in northern Sapporo city, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided to move them.
The Tokyo 2020 team led by Yoshiro Mori is currently discussing possible dates with the IOC, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
The Olympics were scheduled to open on July 24 this year with the Paralympics on August 25, but Japan announced last week it had secured agreement from the IOC to postpone the Games — a decision unprecedented in peacetime.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they would be held in around a year instead as a testament to humanity's victory over the pandemic.
The decision had been seen to open options for Tokyo, with IOC chief Thomas Bach saying that “all the options are on the table” and rescheduling “is not restricted just to the summer months”.
Meanwhile, NHK said the Olympic flame would be displayed for a month at the J-Village sports complex in Fukushima, which was used as a base camp for thousands of relief workers in radiation protection suits during the 2011 nuclear disaster.
— Reuters
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