10 Facts About Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 That’ll Start from 23 July

After much delay, the Olympics is finally back.

In anticipation of the games, here are 10 facts about Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 that’ll start from 23 July (erm, hopefully?).

The Games was Originally Schedule to Take Place at An Earlier Date

Wondering why is an event taking place in 2021 called ‘Tokyo Olympic 2020’? Well, that’s because it was originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020.

Thanks to our best enemy, COVID-19, the Games have been rescheduled until 2021.

So why not called it Tokyo Olympic 2021 then?

The date ‘2020’ in the title was not changed for marketing and branding purposes. It’s similar to the situation in Euro 2020.

The Games was Almost Cancelled 

Earlier this year, it was allegedly reported that Japan is giving up on the Olympics. The source is an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition.

Additionally, according to an opinion poll, about 80% of the people did not want the Games to take place during the summer of 2020…for obvious reasons, of course.

It’s the Second Time The Olympics are Held in Tokyo

The first time the Summer Olympic Games was held in Tokyo was in 1964. Although the games were not held in Tokyo, they were held in the other parts of Japan:

• Sapporo – 1972 Winter Olympics
• Nagano – 1998 Winter Olympics

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is a 17-Day event 

For those of you living under a rock, the Olympic Games is not a 1-day event. It is a multiple-day event that brings athletes from around the globe.

This time, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is a 17-Day event.

The opening ceremony starts on 23 July and the closing ceremony will be on 8 August.

It will be held at 42 Different Venues

As the games are made up of various different sports, you can’t expect the athletes to all be at the same venue, could you?

This year, the Games will be held at 42 different venues, here are 6 of the venues:

1. Olympic Stadium
2. Tokyo Aquatics Centre
3. Ariake Gymnastics Centre
4. Nippon Budokan
5. Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium
6. Ariake Urban Sports Park

Over 11,000 International Athletes will be Competing 

More than 11,000 international athletes will be competing in this year’s Olympic Games. Athletes will fly in from all over the globe, including Singapore.

Some of the games that they’ll be competing against including fencing, badminton and more.

Team Singapore is Sending 23 Athletes

Team Singapore is sending 23 athletes across 12 sports. This is the highest number that Singapore has contested in the Olympics.

Previously, the highest number that Singapore had competed in at an Olympics was 9 at the 2012 London Games.

Joseph Schooling Will be Defending His Title 

Remember the hero Joseph Schooling that won Singapore’s first gold medal in 2016 Rio Olympics? He is back but this time at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

This is the first time that a defending Olympic champion will be among Singapore’s ranks. He aims to defend his 100m butterfly title.

Mediacorp Will Broadcast Tokyo Olympic Games 

In case you’re feeling a little FOMO about not watching the Olympics, no fear for Mediacorp is here.

From blue-ribbon events such as athletics, badminton, football, swimming, and table tennis to opening and closing ceremonies on 23 Jul and 8 Aug, you’ll get to watch them all on our local channels.

Live coverage of the Games will be shown across multiple platforms including 14 dedicated channels on meWATCH. There will also be a specially curated channel that focuses on Team Singapore events.

The best part is, all these channels will be available for free on the meWATCH website or via the app.

Additionally, Mediacorp’s Channel 5 will also air more than 200 hours of coverage throughout the duration of the Game.

Highlights and selected news will be uploaded on the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel as well.

In short, you won’t miss a thing.

Tokyo is Under a State of Emergency 

If you’re thinking, “Since the Games will be in Tokyo, Tokyo is doing good right?”

You are wrong.

The COVID-19 cases in Tokyo have continued to increase in recent weeks. Currently, there is an average of about 900 COVID-19 cases daily.

The Japanese declared a state of emergency in the capital city on 12 July, leaving the organisers of the Olympics to reorganize their previous plans.

They were forced to reverse a decision and only allow spectators based in Japan to watch the Games.

Featured Image: Chaay_Tee/ shutterstock.com