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March 29, 2021
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay begins.
Photo: The Olympic Torch Relay, Fukushima, JAPAN - March 26, 2021. Image provided by & copyright © 2021 - International Olympic Committee.
Tokyo, March 28, 2021 — The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay started in Fukushima, Japan, on March 25, 2021. It will travel through all of the country’s 47 prefectures over the next 121 days before arriving in Tokyo for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 23.
The route, which is unchanged from a year ago when the Games got postponed, will see the Olympic flame travel through 859 municipalities, passing within a short distance of most Japanese populations.
The flame’s journey began in the J-Village national football training facility in Naraha, Fukushima, one of several areas badly hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This particular location is befitting Tokyo 2020’s Olympic Torch Relay concept - “Hope Lights Our Way,” reflecting the Olympic flame’s symbolism of hope and peace, which is particularly relevant considering the challenges both within Japan and across the world in recent times.
The honor of becoming the first torchbearer goes to Nadeshiko, Japan, the football team that won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Their victory played an essential role in uplifting the nation still reeling from the aftermath of the disaster that year.
Over 10,000 torchbearers, hand-selected from over half-a-million applicants, will be responsible for carrying the Olympic flame on its journey across Japan. “Each torchbearer will celebrate the best in each of us - chosen for their ability to overcome adversity. They will be part of a unique Olympic Torch Relay aimed at uniting people around messages of supporting, accepting, and encouraging one another, illustrating how much stronger we are together,” said IOC.
Cherry blossom, a pink gold flower synonymous with Japanese spring, has inspired the torch design. It also embodies Tokyo 2020’s commitment to sustainability. Approximately 30 percent of the torch is made from recycled aluminum used for temporary housing after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Hydrogen, which emits no carbon dioxide when burned, will fuel the torch for selected legs of the Relay. Besides, torchbearers will get outfitted with uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles collected by Olympic Worldwide Partner Coca-Cola.
The Olympic flame first touched down in Japan on March 20, 2020, at Matsushima Airbase in Miyagi, after being lit in Greece at Ancient Olympia. Following the Games’ postponement to 2021, the Olympic flame found a home at Tokyo’s new Olympic Museum. From there, it visited 14 Prefectures and 86 municipalities, welcomed with great enthusiasm by the Japanese public and media wherever it went. The flame received over 62,000 visitors.
Source: International Olympic Committee
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At the Winter Olympics 2018 in PyeongChang, Evgenia Medvedeva performed her Short Program in Figure Skating to Dario Marianelli’s “Dance With Me,” known from the movie “Anna Karenina.”
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:43 AM | Link to this Post
