TOKYO (Japan): The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) on Friday confirmed the event line-up for each competition session of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, following their postponement to 2021.
The organisers agreed in April that given the critical impact of the competition schedule on every aspect of preparation, each session of the 2021 competition would in principle be scheduled as originally planned for 2020.
This has been reflected in the confirmed competition schedule, noting that for operational reasons the start and end times of certain events have been adjusted.
Events in 2021 will take place at the same competition venues that were planned to be used in 2020. Preparations for the Games continue as Tokyo 2020 works to resolve any remaining issues including the periods of venue usage.
Opening of the Games
The competitions will kick off with softball at 9:00 a.m. JST on 21 July 2021, two days before the Opening Ceremony, at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.
Preliminary football matches will start on the same day, with rowing preliminary events and archery ranking rounds to be held on 23 July, the day of the Opening Ceremony. The first medal event—the women’s shooting 10m air rifle—will start at 8:30 a.m. on 24 July. Medal events in six more sports—archery, cycling (road race), fencing, judo, taekwondo and weightlifting—will also be held, with medals being awarded in a total of 11 events that day.
Venues secured
Tokyo 2020 organisers said they have secured all the venues needed to hold the Olympics next summer, clearing a major hurdle to hosting the event postponed over the coronavirus.
Refunds for ticket holders unable to attend the rescheduled games will begin in late 2020, they added.
Tokyo 2020 reported the progress during an online meeting with the International Olympic Committee, confirming that the delayed Games will use all the venues originally booked for the event.
The 2021 event schedule will also be largely the same as the original, except for small changes made for logistical reasons, said Hidemasa Nakamura, Tokyo 2020 games delivery officer.
“There is still work to be done. But we have arrived at a major milestone,” Nakamura told a briefing in Tokyo ahead of the IOC meeting.
