Many more milestones have been met in the last 12 months, including the appointment of Yoshirō Mori as Organising Committee President in January, with the 77-year-old, who served as Japanese Prime Minister between 2000 and 2001, reflecting on the anniversary today.

"Exactly one year ago, at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Tokyo was elected as the host city of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games," he said.

"I attended the session in my capacity as chairman of the Advisory Council of the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee, and it is no exaggeration to say that when I heard IOC President [Jacques] Rogge announce that the host city for the 2020 Games was Tokyo, it was the most unforgettable moment of my life.

"In January this year, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was officially launched, and I had the great honour and privilege of being appointed as President of the Organising Committee.

"Immediately after taking up my new post, I set about obtaining the full cooperation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the National Government and private sector companies, and embarked on laying the foundations for the successful preparations and delivery of the Games.

"In June, we welcomed the IOC Coordination Commission to Tokyo for its inaugural inspection visit, and we were delighted to learn that the Commission evaluated our preparations thus far very highly."

Jacques Rogge signs the Tokyo 2020 host city contract in one of his final acts as IOC President, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda looking on ©AFP/Getty Images






Although the early stages of preparations for Tokyo 2020 over the last 12 months have been overshadowed by the more problematic later stages of work for Rio 2016, there have been challenges for the Japanese city as well.

Most of all, this has encompassed criticism of the plans to redevelop the National Stadium - in which events took place at Tokyo 1964, the only other Summer Olympics to take place on Japanese soil - which critics claim is too big, too expensive and would ruin the city's skyline.

Changing plans for various other venues are also being considered, with canoe slalom, basketball, badminton and sailing among those that could be affected.

A more personal criticism has involved claims that the Organising Committee members are too old and too male-dominated, although steps have subsequently been made to increase the number of female representatives involved in the Games.

On a more positive side, the Tokyo 2020 legacy has taken shape, with work done to raise the profile of the area devastated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and to integrate ideas from younger generations as part of a "Creating Tomorrow Together" project.

These latter aspects form part of Tokyo 2020's aim to inspire benefits beyond simply sporting ones, an area also reflected upon by Mori in his anniversary comments.

"In line with one of the basic premises of the Olympic Movement, 'contributing to a better and more peaceful world through sports', it is my earnest wish that people across the world will come to see the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a symbol of hope for the future of all humankind," he said.

"Our 'All Japan' team - made up of representatives from a broad cross-section of Japanese society - is already working tirelessly to ensure that all visitors to Tokyo for the Games will experience the warm and sincere hospitality for which Japan is renowned.

"We are exerting the utmost effort towards the delivery of a Games that will go down in Olympic history as one of the greatest ever."

The next milestone for Mori and the rest of the Organising Committee will come on Friday (September 12) with an Executive Board meeting at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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