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by Natsuko FUKUE / Andrew MCKIRDY Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — This summer’s virus-postponed Olympics could be held behind closed doors, Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto told AFP on Friday, pledging to ensure the Games will be safe. Former Olympian Hashimoto said the Games could only be a success if organisers “completely protect” athletes and people in Japan, and that she is hopeful people will “be glad” the event went ahead. Overseas […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s third most populated region will on Tuesday ask the central government to impose a state of emergency over the coronavirus as infections rise just three months before the country hosts the Olympics. Osaka prefecture only lifted a state of emergency two months ago and restrictions are expected to be tougher this time, possibly involving store and shopping mall closures. That would still fall short of the harsh lockdowns seen in […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A senior Japanese politician said cancelling the Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus remains a possibility on Thursday, as a surge in cases renews concerns about the Games with less than 100 days to go. Toshiro Nikai, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s number two, said the Olympics must be cancelled “without hesitation” if the virus situation is too severe. A year after their historic postponement, the 2020 Olympics remain beset by pandemic […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s government approved tighter coronavirus measures for the capital and other areas on Friday, weeks after lifting a state of emergency and with just over 100 days until the postponed Tokyo Olympics. The new restrictions are far less severe than the blanket lockdowns seen in other countries and mainly call for restaurants and bars to close at 8 pm, with the threat of fines for those that do not. They are […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China accused the United States of “politicizing sports” on Wednesday, after Washington said it would discuss calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics with its allies after growing pressure to shun the Winter Games on human rights grounds. Republican politicians in the US have led calls for a boycott of the Olympics, in part over what rights monitors say is the mass incarceration and indoctrination of more than a million Uyghurs and […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee said she “didn’t know what had just happened” after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics medley relay on Sunday, just two years after being diagnosed with leukaemia. Ikee, who only resumed training in March last year after being hospitalised for around 10 months, won the 100-meter butterfly race at Japan’s Olympic trials in Tokyo in a time of 57.77 seconds. That was not enough to earn her an […]
by Andrew McKirdy with Sara Hussein in Tokyo FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — The Tokyo Olympics torch relay got off to a low-key start after a year’s coronavirus delay on Thursday, with fans kept away as it embarked on a four-month journey across Japan that will end at the opening ceremony on July 23. Spectators were barred from the departure ceremony and first leg over ongoing fears about the coronavirus, which forced the 2020 Games’ historic […]
by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan began vaccinating healthcare workers against the coronavirus on Wednesday, as it rolled out a cautious inoculation programme with just over five months until the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Japan has so far approved only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and started administering the first shots at a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday morning. Tokyo Medical Centre director Kazuhiro Araki volunteered to be the first at the facility to receive the shot. […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori is expected to resign Friday over a sexism row, but his apparently hand-picked successor — an 84-year-old sports administrator — is already coming under fire. Mori is expected to formally step down later Friday at a gathering called by Olympic organisers to address his claims last week that women talk too much in meetings. The comments sparked a firestorm […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Two-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles and San Antonio Spurs’ Patty Mills were included Wednesday in Australia’s Tokyo Olympic squad as they target an elusive gold medal. They are among nine NBA players on the team, although new head coach Brian Goorjian also opted for some young blood as Australia look to challenge basketball powers United States, Serbia and Spain for the podium. […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Tuesday extended a coronavirus state of emergency in several parts of the country, with less than six months to go until the pandemic-postponed Olympics. The month-long extension will cover 10 of the 11 areas currently under the measure, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a meeting with the taskforce guiding the government’s pandemic response. © Agence France-Presse
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A South Korean court Thursday sentenced a former national speed skating coach to over a decade in prison for sexually assaulting double Olympic gold medallist Shim Suk-hee. Shim filed her complaint against her former coach Cho Jae-beom in January 2019, accusing him of having sexually abused her for years. The Suwon District Court on Thursday sentenced Cho to 10 and a half years in jail for the “highly condemnable” act […]
