IOC's Coates Insists Sapporo 2020 Men's Marathon Be Held on Last Day of Olympics

Speaking about the relocation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics road events to Sapporo at a press conference in Sydney on Nov. 13, IOC coordination committee chairperson John Coates reiterated the IOC's insistence that the men's marathon be staged on the final day of the Olympics, Aug. 9, saying, "It is to be held on the last day of the Olympics, and the athletes must be put on a plane and returned (to Tokyo) in time for the closing ceremonies."

In response to the IOC's edict that the premier event of the Olympics, the men's marathon, be moved out of Tokyo to Sapporo, 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee head Yoshiro Mori had indicated that the date of the men's marathon would be changed in order to overcome the logistical impossibilities created by the move to Sapporo. The IOC responded by saying the marathon was still to be held on the 9th. "No final decision has yet been made, but the organizers should be prepared to hold it on the same day on which it is currently scheduled," Coates stressed. He did, however, admit that the IOC was open to reason, saying, "This is not absolutely set in stone."

With regard to the organizing committee's consideration of holding the marathon on a circuit course he said, "I've heard absolutely nothing about it," saying that it was his understanding that the course would be essentially the same as that of the Hokkaido Marathon. Coates is the head of the Australian Olympic Committee.

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