Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay Starts March 25, 2021
The Olympic Torch Relay will begin on March 25, 2021 at the J-Village National Training Center in Fukushima Prefecture, and then travel through all 47 prefectures in Japan for 121 days. Basically, the route and schedule of the relay will remain as originally planned.
As 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay will aim to highlight the recovery of areas hardest hit by the disaster, in line with the concept of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay “Hope Shines our way”. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will further symbolize the light at the end of the current dark tunnel; a beacon of hope for the world ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which are in themselves a symbol of human resilience, unity and solidarity.
The torch will reach Tokyo on July 9 just in time for the flames to light the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium at the Games’ opening ceremony on July 23.
As part of efforts to simplify the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the grand start of the relay and other ceremonies will be cut, as will the number of operating personnel.
Tokyo 2020 organizers have said that those previously confirmed as Olympic torchbearers will be preferred to compete in next year’s relay. About 10 thousand torchbearers are expected to participate.
Source: www.olympic.uz