BERLIN (Reuters) – The handover of power at the Tokyo Olympic organising committee to Seiko Hashimoto from Yoshiro Mori has been seamless with Hashimoto showing she is fully prepared to take on the job, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.
Hashimoto was named president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee last week, replacing 83-year-old former prime minister Mori, who resigned after causing a furore with sexist remarks about women.
Hashimoto delivered her first progress report as head of the Tokyo Games organising committee to the IOC Executive Board on Wednesday.
“With her report she could already demonstrate she knows the portfolio, that she is up to date on all the details of this organisation,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a virtual news conference.
“There is a very seamless transfer of power in the organising committee. She highlighted her strategic priorities, safety of the games, gender equality and legacy.”
Hashimoto will have to hit the ground running with the Tokyo Olympics originally scheduled for 2020, but postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan kicked off its virus inoculation drive days ago, becoming the last member of G7 countries to do so.
More than half of Japanese firms believe the July 23-Aug. 8 Games should be cancelled or postponed again, a survey by think tank Tokyo Shoko Research showed last week, underscoring doubts over the viability of the premier sporting event.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
