News

Exactly 100 days before Tokyo 2016 hopes to be given the honour of hosting the most compact, athlete-focused and sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games in history, the Bid today unveiled a Countdown Clock in the heart of Japan’s vibrant capital city.

Measuring 1.8 m in height and 1.5m across, the clock was unveiled at the popular Tokyo International Forum, a state-of-the-art convention centre located in the city centre which is also a proposed Tokyo 2016 venue for weightlifting. With the popular site attracting around 4 million visitors annually, huge numbers of passionate supporters of Tokyo 2016 will be able to feel the excitement as the clock counts down.

The Countdown Clock unveiling ceremony was attended by elite Japanese athletes – 2004 and 2008 Olympic gold medallist wrestler Saori Yoshida and weightlifting Olympian Hiromi Miyake.

Hiromi Miyake is an extraordinary example of the 100-year Olympic legacy model that Tokyo 2016 hopes to establish for the Olympic Movement. Her father, Yoshiyuki Miyake, was a weightlifting bronze medallist at Mexico City 1968 and her uncle, Yoshinobu Miyake, was a two-time gold medallist in the sport through his success at the 1964 and 1968 Games.

Hiromi Miyake said:

“The Tokyo International Forum is a spectacular venue for Weightlifting, so it would be a dream for me to compete here during Tokyo 2016. This venue is wonderfully accessible, even to my house north of Tokyo, so I am personally very impressed with the compactness of Tokyo 2016 venue plan. I hope to realise a Tokyo 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games that would make the athletes, coaches and related staff truly proud.”