Tokyo, 11 November 2019 – The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games(Tokyo 2020) today unveiled details of the Olympic Torch Relay and Olympic Flame Lighting andHandover Ceremony, both of which will take place in Greece prior to the Olympic Flame’s journey toJapan, and is organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee.
Flame Lightning Ceremony Overview
The Flame Lighting Ceremony will take place in Ancient Olympia, home of the ancient Games in Greece,on 12 March 2020. At the Temple of Hera, a modern High Priestess will ignite the Olympic flame in thetraditional way by using the rays of the sun and a parabolic mirror.
Flame Lighting Ceremony Agenda
--Remarks by representatives from the IOC, HOC and Tokyo 2020
--Igniting of the Olympic flame
--Igniting of the first torchbearer’s torch using the Olympic Flame
--Commencement of the Greece leg of the Olympic torch relay
Greek Olympic Torch Relay and Torchbearers
The Greek leg of the Torch Relay will run for eight days across Greece from 12 to 19 March 2020, withthe torchbearers including Japanese athletes Mizuki Noguchi, Tadahiro Nomura and Saori Yoshida. TheOlympic Flame will then make its way to the host country of Japan.
Mizuki Noguchi
Olympian from Mie Prefecture. Noguchi, the queen of the half marathon,
switched to marathon and won the 2002 Nagoya International Women’s
Marathon in her first race. Winning a gold medal in the women’s
marathon in Athens 2004, she then set the Asian and Japanese
women’s record at the 2005 Berlin Marathon. Since her retirement in
2016, she has been helping to train a Japanese corporate track & field
team as an adviser, and also works as a marathon commentator.
Noguchi said, "I am very grateful to be a torchbearer in Greece, which is a special place to me. I am also
happy and thankful for this opportunity given to me. It will have been 16 years since I first visited Greece
for the Olympic Games Athens 2004. Appreciating the value of the Olympic Torch Relay, I will pass on
the flame with my great memory from Athens 2004 and my hopes for the coming Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games."
Tadahiro Nomura
Born in Nara prefecture, Japan. He won a gold medal in the men's judo
60kg category at three consecutive Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, Sydney
2000 and Athens 2004. He is the first person in the history of judo and the
first Asian athlete in any Olympic sport to have won gold in three
consecutive Games. Since his retirement, he has been actively promoting
judo both at home and abroad. He now serves as a member of the Tokyo
2020 Games Medal Design Competition Panel and as a Tokyo 2020 Torch
Relay official Ambassador.
Nomura commented, "I am very honored to run as a torchbearer in Greece where the origin of Olympic
Games. I will run and pass the flame of the Olympic symbol with pride of an Olympian and passion
towards Olympic Games Tokyo 2020."
Saori Yoshida
Born in Mie prefecture, Japan. She claimed 13 consecutive world titles
for women’s wrestling up to 2015 and won gold medals at three Olympic
Games: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. In 2012, she was
presented with a National Honour Award for achieving 13 consecutive
wins including Olympic and world championships. In 2016, she won a
silver medal at the Rio Olympics and has racked up a total of 16
consecutive world titles and 206 individual matches in a row. In January
2019, she announced her retirement, marking the end of her 33-year
career.
Yoshida said, "Athens 2004 held in Greece was my first Olympic Games. It is my great pleasure to run in
such a memorable and sacred place, and bring the flame lit in Greece to Japan. As my great mission, I
would surely pass it to the coming Tokyo 2020."
Flame Handover Ceremony Overview
Following the Torch Relay Greek Leg, a ceremony to mark the handover of the Flame from the Hellenic
Olympic Committee to Tokyo 2020 representatives will be held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on
19 March 2020. The ceremony will be open to the public. After a cultural performance by Greek dancers
and entertainers, the host country of Japan will stage its own cultural performance, under the direction of
EXILE HIRO.
Flame Handover Ceremony Agenda
--Remarks by representatives from the Hellenic Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020
--Cultural performances by Greece and Japan
--A torchbearer will enter the Panathenaic Stadium and lit the Olympic flame on a celebration
cauldron, which will subsequently make its way to Japan
Presenters
Details of these will be advised as soon as they are decided
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