No error possible, the figures are clear: Saturday October 28 will mark the symbolic date of D – 1000 days before the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. A little over 2 years and seven months. A big half of the Olympiad.
In Japan, the event will be celebrated with a mixture of pomp and moderation. There’s no question of getting the finish line wrong. But the number – 1000 days – is too round not to make him a little foamy. Saturday October 28, a pre-Olympic event will be organized on the main avenue of the Nihonbashi district, decorated and transformed for the occasion into a sports field, with demonstrations and introductions to the disciplines which will make their entry into the Olympic program.
A little further away from the center of the capital, the Olympic site of Enoshima, chosen for the sailing events, will already have a little Olympic feel. Some of the world's elite have gathered for Olympic Week, presented as a first opportunity to discover and test in real conditions the water course for future Games. The regattas begin this Friday, October 27.
1000 days before the opening, where is the preparation for the 2020 Games? Objectively, the indicators display the right color. The Japanese have not been spared from the controversies. They have even already collected enough to lose sleep over it, between the saga of the construction of the Olympic stadium, the inflation of the budget of the Games, the attempts to recompose the map of the sites, or even the sexist policy of the chosen golf club to host the tournament.
However, reality offers a picture that commands respect. Proof by facts and figures.
The sites. The Tokyo 2020 Games will use 39 venues (8 new permanent venues, 23 existing venues and 8 temporary venues), mostly located within two central areas. According to a press release from the organizing committee, their delivery “is proceeding as planned”. The badminton and modern pentathlon (fencing) site, in the Musashino forest, was delivered in March 2017. For the other permanent installations, the ribbon should be cut between March and December 2019.
Mobilization. Bluffing. From near and far, the efforts of Tokyo 2020 to respect the IOC Agenda 2020 and involve the population in the adventure, seem like examples to follow.
Tokyo 2020 has already hosted 30 individual visits from national Olympic committees. In addition, representatives from 33 countries were invited to one or other of the two open days initiated by the organizing committee.
Its participation program lists more than 14.000 actions. No less than 4.381 Japanese schools have joined the Tokyo 2020 education program.
To date, 740.000 smartphones and 251 tonnes of electronic devices have been recovered as part of the very eco-responsible project to manufacture Olympic medals from recycled metals. Earlier this week, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, joined the movement by donating her old smartphone to Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo, on the sidelines of the C40 meeting in the French capital.
In total, Tokyo 2020 has more than one million fans through its official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LINE, Twitter and YouTube.
Finally, the national competition launched for the design of the Games mascots received 2.042 applications. Around 6,5 million primary school students will be able to vote for their favorite mascots, presented next March.
Marketing. Americans better watch out: Tokyo 2020 is reinventing Olympic sponsorship, taking it to heights never before approached. The National Partners Program currently brings together 44 sponsors (15 gold partners and 29 official partners). The third stage of the rocket, reserved for official supporters, will be ignited from January 2018. It promises to be explosive. As for the catalog of official derivative products, it offers 390 items.
