(ANSA) - TOKYO, 25 MAR - Exactly one year after the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the trip of the Olympic torch started today from Fukushima, in a more contained ceremony - as scheduled - due to the health emergency due to the coronavirus .
The relay will touch all 47 prefectures of the archipelagos for the next four months, will involve about 10,000 torchbearers and will conclude with the arrival of the torch at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, in time for the start of the Games scheduled for 23 July. At the presentation, during the opening at the J-Village in Fukushima, a symbol of the region's attempted rebirth after the triple catastrophe of 10 years ago, the president of the organizing committee Seiko Hashimoto wished that the Olympic torch "could be a light of hope at the end a period of darkness ". To start the relay some of the players of the women's national soccer team Nadeshiko, winners of the World Cup in 2011 (the same year in which the accident occurred). Due to the pandemic, the authorities have asked the public to limit the gatherings during the journey, avoiding excessive manifestations of enthusiasm, the riders themselves will be subjected to stringent rules on medical checks. According to the decision of the organizers, the Tokyo Olympics will take place without the presence of spectators from abroad, a factor that according to analysts will contribute to significantly cooling the support for the event. In the latest survey conducted by the Kyodo agency, at the end of the week, just 23.2% said they were in favor of organizing the Games, while 39.8% would opt for its cancellation. (HANDLE).
