THE JAPAN NEWS


 

The decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold the Tokyo Olympics marathons and race walks in Sapporo was a sudden one.
And while Sapporo has welcomed the announcement made last Wednesday, Tokyo — which had not been informed of the plan until the day before the announcement — cannot contain its anger.

The sudden change has created a sour taste, being that there is relatively little time left to prepare for this world-class event, which happens 10 months from now.


Who’s happy?

“I would be happy if the courses let runners experience Sapporo and Hokkaido,” Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said with a smile in Sapporo on Saturday.

A welcoming mood prevails in Hokkaido, and relevant organizations have already begun holding working-level meetings to make preparations.
In contrast, the Tokyo metropolitan government was robbed of an opportunity to hold a “star event.” At a press conference on Friday, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike expressed dissatisfaction with the IOC’s handling of announcing the change without consulting with the metropolitan government, saying, “I can’t help but wonder.”


Sudden change

The IOC’s sudden change of course was triggered by conditions at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha held between late September and early October. The marathon and the race walks took place late at night in consideration of the heat. Even so, the temperature and humidity exceeded 30 C and 70 percent, respectively, and 28 out of 68 runners dropped out in the women’s marathon.

John Coates, a chairman of the IOC Working Group for Future Games Elections, told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday said that the change of the venue was IOC President Thomas Bach’s idea.

Some of the participating runners and those related criticized the Doha organizer, saying the race could have killed them, comments that were reported by media around the world and possibly fueled the IOC’s concerns about the Tokyo Games.

Sapporo is said to have emerged as a possible venue because it is located at the northernmost point among all the cities involved in the 2020 Games. Other points in Sapporo’s favor are that it has experienced organizing marathon events in the past, and also has an eye toward the bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics.


Clearing the decks

On Oct. 11, the IOC first approached Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Games. Mori then made contact with Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Koichi Hagiuda and Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister Seiko Hashimoto, believing that “Bach is determined.” Since around this time, relevant organizations including the central government have made adjustments.

Meanwhile, it was on Oct. 15 when Koike received a report of the venue change from Organizing Committee Director General Toshiro Muto.
The Tokyo metropolitan government may be justifiably resentful after spending about ¥30 billion ($277 million) on all kinds of measures “against heat,” such as heat-insulating pavement that suppresses rising temperatures on roads.


Hurdles in Sapporo

There are many issues to resolve if the 2020 Olympic marathon races are to take place in Sapporo, and deciding on the course is the most urgent.
“The Hokkaido Marathon course will be the basis [for the Olympic course],” said a senior official of the Sapporo athletics association, referring to the event held in Sapporo every August.

The Hokkaido Marathon starts and ends at the city’s Odori Koen park, but the International Olympic Committee has also suggested another plan to start and finish the Olympic marathon events at the Sapporo Dome stadium. In which case, extensive changes to the course will be needed.

A marathon course must meet many standards to be authorized by the International Association of Athletics Federations, such as the altitude difference between the start and the finish.

As the Olympic marathon races are broadcast all over the world, the view along the course is also important.

Bicycles are used to measure the distance of a marathon course, but there are fears that the measurements in Sapporo cannot be made until next spring, due to snow cover.

If a preliminary event cannot be held on the course before the Olympics, the Games will be the first occasion it is used.

Some of the tickets to the marathon events in Tokyo, which was to start and finish at the new National Stadium, have already been sold. The Games’ organizing committee says the sold tickets will be refunded in normal cases, although it is possible ticket holders will insist on watching the races in Sapporo.

As for race walking, Sapporo has little experience in hosting a large event in this discipline. Authorities in the city are worried saying they must start planning the course from scratch in a short time.