Torch relay toned down

TOKYO • The Tokyo Olympics organisers yesterday unveiled Covid-19 countermeasures for the torch relay, to try to trim the number of participants and simplify the programme for the marquee event to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Spectators lining the route will need to be masked, socially distanced from one another and not cheer, the organisers said in a statement.

The 121-day torch relay is set to begin on March 25 in Fukushima, launching the build-up towards the start of the Games on July 23. The organisers announced a day earlier that spectators will be barred from the start of the nationwide relay.

"The grand start ceremony and the first section of the Fukushima torch relay... will not be open to the public," a statement read, adding that the festivities would be broadcast live online.

Not only will a live crowd be missing but the send-off is set to be far more muted than originally planned.

"In order to allow all possible Covid-19 countermeasures to be taken, the number of participants travelling from Tokyo to the site is being substantially curtailed," Tokyo 2020 organisers said. "In addition, the programme has been simplified and the number of performers at the ceremony has been reduced."

About 3,000 spectators had been expected to attend the relay's starting ceremony.

Members of Japan's 2011 Women's World Cup-winning squad are due to use the Olympic flame to light the torch at the start of the relay. But forward Nahomi Kawasumi - who retired from international duty in 2018 - declined to be a torch runner, citing worries over infections and travel arrangements.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

Members of the public allowed to attend the start of the torch relay.