In welcoming the new Tokyo 2020 President on behalf of the IOC EB, IOC President Thomas Bach said:

“We received the delegation from Tokyo 2020. This was, for the first time, led by President Hashimoto Seiko. She was very warmly welcomed by all the members of the Executive Board - as an Olympian, as an experienced political figure and as a former Chef de Mission. Her nomination was appreciated by everybody in the Executive Board and in the entire Olympic Movement.

“With her report, she could already demonstrate that she knows the portfolio, that she is up to date with all the details of this organisation. So there is a very seamless transfer of power there within the Organising Committee. She highlighted her strategic priorities, which will focus on safety, gender equality and legacy. This is, as you know, fully aligned with the vision of delivering safe and secure Games for everybody - fully aligned with Olympic Agenda 2020.”

He continued: “She was also well received by the Chair of the (Tokyo 2020) Coordination Commission, John Coates. He could also report that there was a lot of positive feedback following the publication of the first edition of the playbooks from the different stakeholder groups.”

“The same echo we got from the Chair of the (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, Executive Board member Kirsty Coventry. She reported that there was a call with about 150 athlete representatives from all around the world. There it was also about the playbooks, and she informed us that these athlete representatives were really embracing the playbooks, and with their questions also gave very good input for the next editions, which you know by nature would be more specific, in particular, more sport-specific.”

Following on from this positive feedback, in his report to the IOC EB John Coates described the ongoing progress towards the publication of the second edition of the playbooks. This has been greatly facilitated by last week’s joint COVID-19 countermeasures working meeting held between Tokyo 2020, the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).