Tokyo 2020: Bach Sets Arrival Date, Koike Leaves Hospital

(ATR) IOC president Thomas Bach plans to arrive in Tokyo on July 8, 15 days before the Opening Ceremony for the postponed Olympic Games.

The IOC announced on Wednesday that Bach will follow the same Playbook protocols as required for all Games participants. He will work remotely until July 12, when he will begin his official program of in-person and remote meetings with arriving delegations.

His destinations will be registered and his activities will be conducted according to what is required in the Playbooks, according to the IOC.

A visit to Hiroshima on July 16, the first day of the Olympic Truce around the Tokyo Games, is being arranged. IOC Coordination Commission chair John Coates is expected to travel to Nagasaki on the same day.

The IOC Executive Board meeting is scheduled in Tokyo on July 17-18 with the 138th IOC Session to follow on July 20.

Tokyo Governor Out of Hospital

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike left the hospital on Wednesday after eight days of treatment for what the metropolitan government described as severe fatigue.

Koike, 68, will follow her doctors’ advice and work remotely for the time being. She plans to resume her full duties once she is fully recovered.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart for making many people worried and causing trouble to them by taking time off from work at this important time," she said in a statement.

U.S. First Lady Plans to Attend Opening Ceremony

U.S. President Joe Biden said plans are in motion for first lady Jill Biden to represent the country at the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo.

The White House spokesperson on Monday said the president was not planning to attend the Games.

A sitting U.S. president has not been at an Olympics since George W. Bush for Beijing 2008.

Vice-President Mike Pence represented the U.S. at the Opening Ceremony for PyeongChang 2018.

Secretary of State John Kerry led the U.S. delegation at Rio 2016 while first lady Michelle Obama was at London 2012.

Former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who at the time was the president of the University of California system, led the U.S. delegation for the Opening Ceremony at Sochi 2014.

This will be the second time that Jill Biden will be representing the U.S. at an Olympics. She and her husband, then the vice-president, attended Vancouver 2010.

Homepage photo: Tokyo 2020

Written by Gerard Farek

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