Now it's official.
Road walk competitions at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo will be held on the island of Hokkaido in Sapporo.
The forecast of the hot August weather would have convinced the IOC to make these moves, although the solution would have been much criticized and opposed in Japan in particular by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.
The race races will be carried out with the following program starting and finishing in the Odori Park:
- 6 August 2019 local time 16:30 (CET: 8:30): 20km men
- 7 August 2019 local time 5:30 (CET: 21:30): 50km men
- 7 August 2019 local time 16:30 (CET: 8:30): 20km women
The IOC, World Athletics and Tokyo 2020 also agreed on 1km and 2km loops for the race walk.
World Athletics and Tokyo 2020 will conduct a site inspection in order to reach a mutual decision on overall operations by mid-December.
The Chair of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission, Kirsty Coventry, said,
“Athletes’ health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns, and the decision to move the marathon and race walk events to Sapporo shows how seriously we take such concerns. We also want the Olympic Games to be the platform where athletes can give ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ performances, and this new venue ensures that they will have the conditions to give their best. I would like to thank the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the local authorities and World Athletics for confirming this new venue so quickly, in order to give the athletes as much preparation time as possible".
Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto commented:
“We appreciate that, through the support of so many people, Sapporo Odori Park could be approved as a venue so quickly following the decision to move these events. With less than eight months to go until the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Games, Tokyo 2020 will continue to work closely as one team with all the parties involved in their preparation.”