Determined to stage safe, secure Olympics next year: Tokyo Governor

Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike on Monday met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and said that Japan is fully committed to host safe and secure Olympics next year.

Koike added that Japan will set a new benchmark for future generations by hosting the Olympics economically.

"Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike meets President Bach: We are strongly determined, together with the IOC, to stage safe and secure Olympic Games. We will not only achieve cost reductions but leave a new model for future generations of how the Games can be organised," the IOC Media tweeted.

Earlier in the day, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the Olympic Movement's highest award, the Olympic Order in Gold. Abe helped to win the Games for Tokyo in 2013. He later made a surprise appearance at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016, dressed as Super Mario.

In September, a series of measures were agreed upon by the IOC Coordination Commission and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee to make the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 fit for a post-corona world.

The IOC is working closely with the International Federations, National Olympic Committees and other event organisers in order to receive vital input as part of an ongoing review of the best practices and key learnings taken from the resumption of sporting events in Japan and around the world.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year. The mega event will now be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021 and the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5, 2021.