Tokyo 2020 organizers yesterday unveiled the uniforms to be worn by 10,000 volunteer runners during the torch relay and presented further details about the route the relay would take.
The torch is to travel through all 47 of Japan’s prefectures — from Hokkaido in the north to southern Okinawa — and most of the country would have the chance to see the torch, with 98 percent of the population residing within an hour’s distance from the route, organizers said.
The 121-day relay is to begin on March 16 next year at the J-Village in Fukushima, which is Japanese soccer’s national training center and a symbol of resilience during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed almost 16,000 people.
Photo: AFP
Games organizers have sought to stress the importance of the Tokyo Olympics as the “reconstruction Olympics” and it was evident in the choice of the route, which is to pass through Okuma, where part of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant complex is located, and past Kumamoto Castle, which sustained heavy earthquake damage in 2016.
“It is not just about places where people can come or around landmarks, but the torch will also visit areas affected by the great Japan earthquake and Kumamoto Castle, recovering from the Kumamoto earthquake,” said Miho Takeda, a Tokyo 2020 committee member and five-time Olympic medalist in synchronized swimming.
“The relay will go through areas of Japan that are working hard to recover from natural disasters,” she said.
The torch is also to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and pass Mount Fuji before arriving at the National Stadium in Tokyo on July 24 for the opening ceremony.
The runners’ uniform, designed by fashion designer Daisuke Obana, was unveiled by three-time Olympic gold medal-winning judoka Tadahiro Nomura.
The uniforms, which are produced in part from recycled plastic bottles, incorporate a diagonally-draped red sash similar to those used as batons in Ekiden, Japan’s famous long-distance relay events.
“The torchbearer uniform is eco-friendly. Coca Cola collected plastic bottles in their company and recycled them to use them in the uniform material,” Nomura said.
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