Tokyo 2020 bosses vowed Monday there would be no let-up in their Games preparations, as the president of the IOC said some previous host cities were less prepared even with three months to go.
Yoshiro Mori, head of the 2020 organising committee, said they had won strong backing from Olympic officials in Tokyo for crunch meetings — with some 600 days until the Opening Ceremony.
“There were so many words of praise but we will not be conceited about this. I think we should not relax,” said Mori, noting they would undoubtedly face “difficulties and uncertainties” in the run-up to the Games.
After a shaky start, Tokyo 2020’s preparations have largely been brought back on track and with venue construction broadly on schedule, the last-minute scramble to complete stadia seen at previous Games has so far been absent in the Japanese capital.
IOC head Thomas Bach said no city had ever been so well-prepared as Tokyo at the same stage.
“In some of the cities — even in most — we had to organise crisis meetings with the Executive Board a couple of months before the Games and some of them were maybe not where you are today already even three months before the Games,” said Bach.
Nevertheless Tokyo 2020 still faces a host of potential pitfalls, including how to deal with the sweltering summer heat and keep a lid on the budget.
