Tokyo Games Will Be Historic Given Challenges – IOC President

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday the Tokyo Games, starting on July 23, will be historic for the way the Japanese people have overcome challenges to hold the global sporting event amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The host city, Tokyo, where a state of emergency has been imposed until after the Games end on August 8, also recorded 1,149 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the most in nearly six months.

Bach praised the organisers and the Japanese people for staging the Games in the midst of the pandemic.

“These will be historic Olympic Games for the way how the Japanese people overcame so many challenges in the last couple of years, the great east Japan earthquake and now the coronavirus pandemic,” Bach told reporters after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

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Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.