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Sports
Tokyo inaugurates Olympic Aquatic Center
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Tokyo - (PanOrient News) Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike and Minister of the Tokyo Olympics Seiko Hashimoto were accompanied by members of the Olympic Committee and representatives from the metropolitan government at the inauguration of the Olympic Aquatic Center, which was scheduled to take place last March but was postponed to October due the coronavirus pandemic.
In the facility designed by architect Kazuo Tange, which will accommodate more than 15,000 spectators during the Olympic Games, an Olympic and Paralympic swimming demonstration followed the inauguration and ribbon cutting ceremony. Ms. Koike gave the kick-off of the 4x50-meter relay initiated by Paralympic backstroke champion Manami Urata, while Olympic and Paralympic swimmers took turns practicing different swimming styles.
Two artistic synchronized swimming champions, Yukiko Inui and Yoshida Megumu, began a robot-like choreography to thunderous applause from the audience invited to the inauguration ceremony.
Several divers, including World Diving Championship bronze medalist Mai Yasuda, plunged from the 10-meter diving board, and Ken Terauchi, national synchronized diving champion, jumped with his partner Sho Sakai from a height of 3 meters into the pool heated by solar panels.
According to Shingo Takeda, director of venue opening preparations, Tokyo 2020 Games Venues told Arab News that preventative measures are being scrupulously respected and that a visitor traceability system is in place, adding that no site worker has been infected with the coronavirus. Mr. Takeda hoped that the overseas public who comes to the Olympics to watch the swimming events can have an enjoyable and safe time.
The Olympic Aquatic Center will be open on October 25 to the public and athletes.
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