(ATR) IOC inspectors for Tokyo 2020 will seek assurances about budgets and the new Olympic stadium scheme in their project review starting Thursday.
IOC coordination commission chair John Coates and Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday for the two-day review of Games preparations.
After reports in Japan last month claiming the Games may end up costing $15 billion – six times the initial estimate – Coates and IOC officials will seek clarification from Tokyo 2020 officials. Cost-cutting measures could be recommended across the Olympic project.
IOC officials will have closed-door meetings with Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori and his team on Thursday. Talks with Olympics minister Toshiaki Endo are scheduled Friday.
Representatives of the Japan Sport Council, which is in charge of the new Olympic stadium project, are expected to update IOC delegates about progress on the design and build of the venue.
Architect Kengo Kuma’s design was chosen last month to be the centerpiece of the 2020 Games. A partnership with construction giant Taisei Corp, the 68,000-seat stadium will cost $1.26 billion, nearly one billion less than the original design scrapped last summer due to ballooning costs.
The 2020 Olympic stadium will be built on the site of the 1964 Tokyo Games venue. Construction is set to begin in early 2017 with completion due in November 2019.
Also receiving close IOC scrutiny this week will be selection process for the new Tokyo 2020 logo. Four designs were shortlisted earlier this month, one of which will replace the original logo scrapped in a plagiarism scandal.
Once they are registered, trademarked and checked for plagiarism, they will be presented to the general public for feedback. The final logo will be announced in the spring.
Coates and Tokyo 2020 leaders will speak to media at a press conference on Friday.
Athletes Commission Input
Tokyo 2020 organizers received expert advice on Wednesday in their quest to deliver an athlete-centered Games. A workshop took place today with experts from the Olympic Movement focusing on the role of the athletes’ commission within an organizing committee.
Guests included IOC Athletes’ Commission chair Claudia Bokel, head of NOC relations Toshio Tsurunaga and London 2012 Athletes’ Commission chair Jonathan Edwards.
Bokel underlined how important it was to meet the needs of athletes in the organization of the Olympics,from the moment they land in the host city to the moment they leave.
Edwards said the athletes’ commission should be involved "in all the services that will be proposed to athletes, and looking into the details. We went as far as testing the food and mattresses of the Village".
Tokyo 2020 created its own athletes’ commission in September 2014. Naoko Takahashi, gold medalist in the women’s marathon at the Sydney Olympics, chairs the committee that is composed of 20 Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The commission "ensures the voice of the athletes is heard and taken into account at the decision-making level", according to Tokyo organizers.
Edwards applauded the work of Tokyo 2020 in having "an active and engaged" athletes' commission. "It's very important that you harness this, that you utilize this to establish a great Games for Tokyo 2020, as well as a great legacy," he said.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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