Last week, the Olympic flame of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games was lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, with no crowds attending due to the coronavirus. In only 134 days, the Games of the 32th Olympics will begin. As a symbol of peace and hope the Olympic flame will be making its way to Tokyo conveying the Olympic values. But given the unprecedented circumstances the world is facing in the form of the coronavirus, the health and safety of the thousands of torchbearers, spectators and staff will be the first priority along the route of the Olympic torch relay both in Greece and Japan. As such, there was only a smattering of people lining the route. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the Tokyo Games will go ahead as planned in July despite coronavirus concerns resulting in the postponement of sporting events. But Abe added the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would have the final decision whether Tokyo 2020 goes ahead. “We will overcome the spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned,” Abe said. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said: “We're taking thorough infection measures with regards to the torch relay domestically.” Whatever the decision, IOC President Thomas Bach and several guests joined the lighting ceremony, showing their unified support for the Games. These included the president of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee acting President Toshiaki Endo, IOC Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission Chair John Coates and Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos. “This ceremony demonstrates once more our commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” Bach said during the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony. “Nineteen weeks before the opening ceremony, we are strengthened in this commitment by the many authorities and sports organisations around the world which are taking so many significant measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. “At the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 we will stand together, united in all our diversity. We will be united by our commitment to the Olympic values. We will be united by our emotions. This makes each and every one of us a member of this unique Olympic community. This Olympic community will show the entire world that our shared humanity is stronger than all the forces that want to divide us,” he added. Bach also praised the organising committee: “Our Japanese friends are interpreting the noble mission of the Olympic Games in an outstanding way. Japan will demonstrate its ground-breaking innovation and boundless creative energy with regard to sustainability, technology and human-centred growth.” “The Olympic torch relay in Greece is the origin of so many wonderful episodes and stories, and I very much hope that the torch relay that begins today will engender many dreams and aspirations, and bring hope for tomorrow,” Endo said. Held near the Temple of Hera, the traditional ceremony celebrates the Olympic Games Greek heritage, reaffirming the connection between the modern Games and their historic origins. During his visit, Bach also offered his gratitude to the Hellenic Olympic Committee and Capralos for the close cooperation with the Greek government to ensure the flame lighting could take place despite the COVID-19 virus. Following the ceremony, the Olympic torch began its journey with Olympic gold medallist from Rio 2016 Anna Korakaki from Greece. It was then passed on to Japanese athlete Noguchi Mizuki, the winner of the women's marathon race at the Olympic Games Athens 2004. A week-long tour of Greece then follows before the Japan leg of the relay begins on 26 March. There, supported by four presenting partners, including worldwide Olympic partners Coca-Cola and Toyota, around 10,000 torchbearers will carry it through all 47 prefectures, incorporating 859 local municipalities, for a period of 121 days, before arriving in Tokyo for the opening ceremony. Once the flame is lit at the Olympic Stadium on 24 July, just over 11,000 athletes, representing 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team will compete in what will be the first gender-balanced Olympic Games in history. The theme of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay is “Hope Lights Our Way”, and the display of the Olympic flame dovetails with the concept that the Games should help aid reconstruction in disaster-hit areas of Japan. Tokyo 2020 will exhibit the flame, which will be lit in Greece, in the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the areas most affected by the disaster, for two days each from 20 to 25 March 2020, before the relay commences on 26 March. The Olympic flame will arrive from Greece at Matsushima Airbase, Miyagi prefecture, where it will be displayed at Ishinomaki Minamihama Tsunami Recovery Memorial Park, Ishinomaki City, a district where 400 people lost their lives. It will then move to Sendai Station East Exit, Sendai City, Miyagi prefecture on 21 March, before being displayed aboard the SL Ginga Steam Locomotive Express the following day. *A version of this article appears in print in the 19 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
