Sports news
Sakura Murakami
Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese athlete turned politician Seiko Hashimoto has been chosen as chairman of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, replacing a man who resigned after making a furor with sexist comments.
Hashimoto, who competed in seven Summer and Winter Olympics as a cyclist and skater, now faces a number of difficult issues at the helm of one of the biggest sporting events in the world, with less than half a year to go until his late start.
It must ensure that athletes and officials are protected from the coronavirus, while facing strong public opposition to the Games being held in the midst of the pandemic.
Hashimoto announced her choice shortly after presenting her resignation as Minister for the Olympics to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who encouraged her to make the Games a success.
“As someone with an athletic background, I will play safe games for athletes and citizens,” she told a news conference.
She replaces Yoshiro Mori, an 83-year-old former prime minister who resigned as Tokyo 2020 president last week after saying that women talk too much.
His nomination was well received by the International Olympic Committee, which had not demanded Mori’s resignation and initially considered the case closed after his first apology and refusal to resign.
“With her great Olympic experience … and having led Japan’s delegation to the Olympic Games several times, she is the perfect choice for this position,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement.
“Seiko Hashimoto can take advantage of her rich political experience as a minister and many other political functions. This will help to offer safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games ”.
Opinion polls have repeatedly shown that more than 80% of Japanese people do not believe the Games should be held this year due to the pandemic – a concern that Hashimoto has promised to address for both ordinary citizens and athletes.
“I can imagine how difficult it is for athletes with so many doubts about whether or not they should aim for the Olympics and Paralympics in the midst of the pandemic,” she said.
A 56-year-old lawmaker from Japan’s ruling party, Hashimoto served as minister for the Olympics, doubling as a minister for women’s empowerment, from 2019 until she resigned on Thursday.
She was born days before Japan hosted the 1964 Summer Games and her name comes from a Chinese character used for the Olympic flame. She responded by participating in four Olympic Winter Games as a speed skater and three Olympic Summer Games as a cyclist.
However, Hashimoto has faced scrutiny for reports that she made unwanted strides to a sportsman at a party during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
A magazine at the time published photos of her kissing the popular ice skater Daisuke Takahashi. She then said that athletes often hug and kiss and regretted that it caused some misunderstanding. Takahashi never made any complaints.
Asked about the incident on Thursday after it was brought up again on social media, she said: “Both then and now, I deeply regret my careless behavior.”
INTERNATIONAL PROVOCATION, GENDER EQUALITY
Mori resigned last Friday after causing international protests, saying during a committee meeting that women talk too much, comments that a Tokyo 2020 executive said on Thursday that he had caused “unspeakable damage”.
He initially challenged calls to resign, but growing anger at his comments and a petition led by a 22-year-old student and activist, among others, helped seal his destiny in a nation that is still struggling for gender equality.
Japan is ranked 121st out of 153 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Differences Index 2020 – the worst ranking difference among advanced countries – with a low score for women’s economic participation and political empowerment.
Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka welcomed Mori’s resignation.
“I think, for me, that means there are a lot of things that I think people used to accept what used to be said, but you are seeing the younger generation not tolerating a lot of things,” she told a news conference in Australia .