Typhoon Hagibis's Fear Japanese Committed To Host Tokyo2020 Olympic Matchless

Extreme heat and inclement weather came under the spotlight as global media outlets gathered here at time when Typhoon Hagibis has left a trail of destruction in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, just 40km south of Tokyo but the patience and commitment was there to host Tokyo 2020 Olympic matchless from July 24 to August 9, 2020 in Tokyo

TOKYO (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2019 ) , Extreme heat and inclement weather came under the spotlight as global media outlets gathered here at time when Typhoon Hagibis has left a trail of destruction in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, just 40km south of Tokyo but the patience and commitment was there to host Tokyo 2020 Olympic matchless from July 24 to August 9, 2020 in Tokyo.

The four-day World Press Briefing kicks off at Tokyo Big Sight and there were most discussions relating to extreme heat, venue operations, lessons learned from test events and transportation, media operations, covering venues press operation, technology accreditation and transport.

Time has also been set aside though for updates on the Torch Relay, a presentation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo Metropolitan Government. With just nine months to go until the Opening Ceremony on July 24, 2020 questions relating to heat countermeasures and contingency plans for inclement weather following last weekend's Typhoon Hagibis like situation needed to be addressed.

Typhoon Hagibis left a trail of destruction across Japan, with 53 lives lost in torrential downpours, landslides and subsequent flooding. A total of 38,000 people across 17 prefectures had evacuated from their homes in the last 72 hours.

In Chiba, where surfing is set to make its Olympic debut at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, a man was reported dead after winds flipped his car and a 5.7 magnitude earthquake caused further chaos on Saturday (Oct 12).

In August, last, the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan announced would create a heatstroke prevention study to help the country prepare for Tokyo 2020 and attempt to mitigate weather concerns following temperatures that soared to 40 Celsius.

More than 50 people died in the city in July as a result of the heat wave as athletes competing in "Ready Steady Tokyo" test events raised a number of heat-related concerns. It is pertaining to mention here that in a recently held IOC's Executive board meeting in Lausanne, President Thomas Bach revealed a survey was being sent to International Federations to help the Organizing Committee benefit from past experiences.

The media men, invited from across the world, will have two day venues tour across Tokyo along with other sight scenes. These include the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the Oi Hockey Stadium and Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which will provide a viewing platform to the Olympic Stadium.

On Friday, next, journalists will be given the opportunity to field questions to members of the Tokyo 2020 functional areas teams on a one-on-one basis, with a special photographers briefing session scheduled for Friday afternoon.

A heat countermeasures questionnaire will be sent to International Federations (IF) and National Olympic Committees, as Tokyo 2020 look to ensure athlete and spectator safety at the Olympic Games next year. The media men reiterated their belief that they had never seen a city so well prepared ahead of an Olympic Games.

They said that the Japanese way is to be very diligent but never to be complacent. John Coates, Chair of the Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, also gave an update on preparations concerns over the heat at Tokyo 2020 have grown in recent months after more than 50 people died in the city in July after temperatures of 40 degrees.

The snow-making machines are among heat countermeasures that could be introduced at Tokyo 2020 to make ensure controlling over the heat weaves if any at the time of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic. In 2018, 95,137 people were admitted to hospital suffering from heatstroke and Japan has announced it will create a heatstroke prevention study to help the country prepare for Tokyo 2020 and attempt to mitigate weather concerns.

Marathon start times have been brought forward to counteract temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees at 6.00 am local time, while special paint coatings are being sprayed on roads to reduce roadside temperatures. Among the measures being considered is allowing fans to bring their own bottled water into venues under certain conditions, while snow machines were tested at a Ready Steady Tokyo canoe sprint test event.

IOC President Bach is going to hand over complete questionnaires to Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee by the end of Oct this year but will continue to work on the issues raised from many circle, the official said. "We were delighted to see the ever-growing popularity of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," the IOC President Bach was quoting as saying.

Showing a graph of popularity one official also confirmed to the media that they have been looking for 10,000 Torch bearers and have received 535,000 applications which certainly speak the volume of popularity linked with Tokyo 2020 Olympic. "This number speaks for itself." "Over 3.5 million tickets have been sold, and for the 80,000 volunteer positions there were more than 200,000 applicants, with over 10 per cent coming from outside Japan, representing 120 countries, an official of the NOC Japan said.