Day: December 28, 2020

(Xinhua)10:05, December 25, 2020

TOKYO, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) — The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee announced here on Thursday that all 68 domestic companies have decided to extend their sponsorship deals after reaching a basic agreement.

The organizers said in a statement that they are proceeding with the conclusion of contracts with all sponsors based on the agreement.

Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori is thrilled with the progress and has expressed his gratitude to all the sponsors.

In the midst of this years hardships, we believe that it is because of the immense and varied support from our top partners as well as our domestic partners that we have been able to face forward and continue preparations for the games.

Mori, a former Japanese Prime Minister, promised that the postponed games will be held as rescheduled.

We believe that holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer will serve as proof that humankind has overcome the pandemic.

As we move into next year, we will continue to prepare for games fit for a post-corona world with the support and encouragement of everyone involved.

Tokyo 2020s domestic sponsorship program has generated a record 3.3 billion US dollars in revenue, with top-tier gold partners including the likes of Canon, NEC and Asahi Breweries.

(Xinhua)10:52, December 25, 2020

PARIS, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) — March 24, 2020, is destined to leave a mark on the 124-year-old history of the modern Olympics. It was on that fateful Tuesday that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo organizers agreed to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still torturing the world.

For the first time, the Olympic Games failed to take place as scheduled because of a non-war-related reason.

With the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are all living in much uncertainty. At this point in time, this uncertainty is far from subsiding. We are all only beginning to understand the far-reaching consequences of the coronavirus crisis around the world, IOC president Thomas Bach wrote in a letter in late April to the Olympic Movement entitled Olympism and Corona.

The keyword is uncertainty. When we look back at the end of this chaotic year like no other, the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus health crisis remains one of the biggest challenges the Olympic Movement, and the whole sports world has faced and will face for a long time in the future.

AN UNPREDICTABLE PANDEMIC SITUATION

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all sectors of society as we knew it, and sports are no exception. On most occasions, the key to sports is no longer in the hands of the sportspeople themselves, but the sanitary departments.

Such as the postponed French Open in September, the spectators limitation per day was reduced from a planned 20,000 to 11,500, then to 5,000, and eventually to 1,000 only three days before the main draw, in line with the governments anti-COVID-19 protocol policy.

As the chief of the governing body of the Olympic Movement, a question Bach has been asked again and again is about the future of the Tokyo Olympic Games – whether we will have it and if yes, how it will be organized.

For the first part of the question, we already have an answer: yes, but for the second, the answer remains uncertain with many details yet to be decided in the coming months regarding the pandemic situation.

Yuhei Inoue, a Japanese sports scholar from Manchester Metropolitan University thought of the Tokyo Olympic Games in terms of the social impact for the country and the whole world; especially under the circumstances related to the coronavirus.

By successfully hosting an Olympic Games in a safe and innovative manner despite challenges associated with the coronavirus, Japan and Tokyo can show to the world how capable they are as a country and city and hence enhance their external images among the international community.

Full recovery from the pandemic requires more than the mere implementation of economic policies, such as economic stimulus packages. The inspiration and shared identity engendered by the Olympic Games will serve as a key resource that helps people and communities to collectively work toward the common goal of recovering from the current pandemic, and witnessing this will allow the global public to further appreciate the significance sport and the Olympic Games have in society, Yuhei said.

A HARD TIME FOR ALL

For Alfons Hormann, the president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), one of his biggest jobs since March has been to seek financial support from the government as a report from DOSB showed that Germanys Olympic Movement could suffer an economic loss up to one billion euros.

It is also a common story in other parts of the world. From International Sports Federations (IFs) to National Olympic Committees (NOCs), to individuals, everyone is struggling in the current situation.

For most IFs, the COVID-19 pandemic has already resulted in huge financial losses as their income from gate ticket sales, TV rights and commercial sponsorships have all been cut sharply.

The postponement of Tokyo 2020 also meant that many IFs couldnt receive the revenue share of the Olympic Games from the IOC as before, which has made the situation even worse.

Its been a turbulent ride. Last summer we were on cloud nine after our mens and womens teams qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Last month, however, our contracts were terminated due to major funding cuts, meaning the end of the England 7s program as we know it, a tweet from the England Rugby sevens team reflected the struggle that many athletes around the world are facing.

The lack of money, as well as the lockdown policies in some countries and regions, have made regular training unavailable for many athletes.

CHANGE OR BE CHANGED: THE IOC ACCELERATES REFORM

The current situation means the IOC needs to play its role as the leader of the world Olympic Movement and Bach and his colleagues are shouldering this responsibility.

The IOC in November announced that it would increase the budget of Olympic Solidarity for the period 2021 to 2024 by 16 percent, which is now up to 590 US dollars, to further strengthen its support to athletes, NOCs, and Continental Associations of NOCs.

Meanwhile, around 100 million US dollars have been provided to aid IFs and NOCs by the end of July and another 150 million could be paid to NOCs through the TOP Programme by the end of this year.

Besides financial support, the IOC is accelerating its own reform, which started in 2014 when Olympic Agenda 2020 was adopted. A report from the IOC in December said that 85 percent of the Olympic Agenda 2020 has been achieved in the past six years.

The motto when we launched Olympic Agenda 2020, and which is written on the wall at Olympic House: Change or be changed, is in this crisis-time more relevant than ever, Bach said.

Built on the three pillars of credibility, sustainability, and youth, the IOC is trying to apply these ideas to the upcoming Olympic events. And we can see that Paris 2024 has reduced the number of beds required for the Olympic Village from 17,000 to 14,000 to cut the costs, and introduced breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing into the sports program as a move to embrace the youth.

Adjusting accordingly with flexible and innovative measures, the preparation work for Beijing 2022 is also well on track toward honoring its promise five years ago when the city was awarded the Games. A milestone is to be reached as all competition venues will be completed by the end of this year, despite twists and turns aplenty.

Although uncertainty remains, what can be certain is that none of us will be able to sustain every single initiative or event that we were planning before this crisis hit.

Just as Bach wrote in his letter to the Olympic Movement: this pandemic has affected and will affect all areas of society, including all of us in the world of sport, significantly… If we draw the right lessons from the current situation, we can shape our future to even strengthen the relevance of our Olympic Movement in the world.

(Xinhua)17:19, December 25, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The past year has been one like none other for the sporting world, with a number of sports events either cancaled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese athletes have been grappling with the unprecedented situation as they prepare for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Tokyo Summer Olympics, rescheduled for July 2021, will award medals across 339 events in 33 different sports.

According to Chinas State General Administration of Sport, Chinese athletes have won Olympic qualification in 155 events across 20 sports such as archery, equestrian, diving, womens basketball, womens volleyball, and table tennis.

Olympic qualifying events in 25 sports, including shooting, weightlifting, wrestling, judo, boxing, track and field, swimming, and gymnastics, have not concluded yet.

Wang Yun, an official with Chinas General Administration of Sport, said the Chinese teams have paid close attention to the competitions and tried their best to turn risks into opportunities.

Training behind closed doors was a routine for Chinese athletes in 2020.

Life is really boring here. There is nothing new besides the training, said Rio 200m individual medley bronze medalist Wang Shun, who has been training at the National Aquatic Training Center in Qiandao Lake, Hangzhou with the Zhejiang provincial team since March.

Wangs coach Zhu Zhigen echoed that the COVID-19 outbreak was mentally challenging for athletes.

The athletes were in low spirits after a long time of living right inside here. There was also a potential crisis because it was hard for athletes to fully mobilize themselves, so their training efficiency and self-discipline were affected, said Zhu.

A lot of games were suspended, so it was difficult to guarantee the quality of training without regular competitions. Moreover, some athletes began to suffer from anxiety and depression to some extent.

In late September, Chinas female epee fencer Xu Anqi competed in the national fencing championships for the first time since the outbreak.

I have not fenced competitively for nearly nine months. Always practiced at home. Everybody feels kind of depressed, said the 28-year-old Xu.

The postponement posed even bigger challenges for senior athletes as it was difficult to keep their spirits up.

Wang Yun said relevant departments had taken various measures to reduce the impact of the epidemic, as national teams faced training fatigue, psychological anxiety, lack of competition, and other problems after long-term closed training.

China was the first country to strictly contain the epidemic, thus Chinese athletes can prepare for the games with more peace of mind. Young athletes can further hone their skills.

Frenchman Hugues Obry, head coach of Chinas national epee team, said Chinese athletes have an advantage in the preparation compared with foreign athletes.

Many people abroad cant train, or even get around in their country. So we have an advantage, and were going to take advantage of that, the coach said.

Wang Yun said we must keep a clear head and look at the pros and cons of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.

We should make full use of these advantages and strive to maximize the benefits of one years time bonus so as to gain better results, said Wang Yun.

(Xinhua)10:44, December 26, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The construction of the National Speed Skating Hall for Beijing 2022, also known as the Ice Ribbon was completed on Friday and will start ice-making in January of 2021 , according to the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office.

As the only newly-built competition venue for ice events in the Beijing Winter Olympics, it covers an area of about 80,000 square meters and can accommodate about 12,000 spectators. During the Winter Olympics, it will host the speed skating competitions which offer 14 gold medals.

According to the project manager, the venue has made innovative breakthroughs in its design concept, technical process, material selection and construction techniques. It adopts a high-tech curved curtain wall system, which is assembled out of 3,360 curved glass units, and successfully creates a ribbon shape that symbolizes the high-speed sliding of speed skaters.

As the worlds first Winter Olympic venue using carbon dioxide transcritical direct cooling ice making technology, it will produce the largest ice surface in Asia with an area of 12,000 square meters. The venue will also be very smart, equipped with robots asking for directions, unmanned vehicles and virtual ice and snow sports.

(Xinhua)13:33, December 27, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) — Arsenal shook off a recent run of poor form to beat Chelsea 3-1, while a late equalizer for Leicester City ensured they shared the spoils with Manchester United on an entertaining Boxing Day in the Premier League.

Having taken just two points from their last seven league matches, Arsenal went into their home clash with city rivals Chelsea very much on the back foot. However, the Gunners made a bright start and went ahead through Alex Lacazettes penalty after Reece James was adjudged to have brought down Kieran Tierney in the box.

Making a mockery of their lowly league position, Arsenal doubled their lead just before half-time when Granit Xhaka curled a free-kick over the wall and beyond the reach of Edouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal.

Bukayo Saka made it 3-0 shortly after the break when his chip floated over Mendys head, and although Tammy Abraham reduced the arrears with a chested effort, the Gunners held on for a vital three points.

An own goal from Axel Tuanzebe helped Leicester City hold Manchester United 2-2 in the days early kick-off.

Marcus Rashfords first-half strike was quickly canceled out by Harvey Barnes, and though Bruno Fernandes put Man Utd into the lead late on, Jamie Vardys first-time shot deflected off the unfortunate Tuanzebe and into the net.

Uniteds local rivals Manchester City made short work of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium, dispatching the visitors 2-0 thanks a goal in each half from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres.

Aston Villa continued their good form with a resounding 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, with Bertrand Traore, Kourtney Hause and Anwar El Ghazi all among the goals.

Gylfi Sigurdssons strike saw Everton move up to second with a 1-0 over Sheffield United, who remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table, while the days other match saw Fulham and Southampton play out a 0-0 draw.