(ATR) As far as the IOC is concerned, the decision to appoint HASHIMOTO Seiko as the new Tokyo 2020 president is a slam dunk.
"We’re very pleased. It’s a positive way forward. She’s an Olympian, which is great. She has very good links to Prime Minister SUGA. She has the whole suite of things that you would expect from anyone doing that job," says IOC director of communications Mark Adams, speaking with Around the Rings for an upcoming ATRadio podcast.
HASHIMOTO, 56, succeeds MORI Yoshiro, the 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister who resigned on Feb. 12 amid worldwide criticism over sexist comments he made during a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting on Feb. 3.
"The circumstances surrounding the appointment of a new president have made the question of how Tokyo 2020 and the Games can further the cause of gender equality one of intense interest to many people," HASHIMOTO said.
HASHIMOTO had to quit as Olympics minister to become Tokyo 2020 president."I intend to approach this question with a sense of urgency and within the month set forth a system for implementation and begin delivering results."
She calls her new job "an immense and sobering responsibility" and with five months to the postponed Games, vows to "make safety the ultimate priority and do everything possible to prepare a Games where everyone may feel safe and secure".
"If you wanted to send a message about gender and exclusivity, both from our Japanese colleagues and ourselves, than what better to give her the chance and opportunity to lead the organizing committee when the Games come," Adams tells ATR.
HASHIMOTO, a seven-time Olympian, had to quit as Olympics minister in the SUGA cabinet to take over as head of Tokyo 2020. She will remain a member of the Japanese parliament. The new Olympics minister is MARUKAWA Tamayo, who served in that position from 2016 to 2017 under former Prime Minister ABE Shinzo.
Written by Gerard Farekwith reporting from Ed Hula
For general comments or questions,click here.
Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
