Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita was positive about the decision to postpone the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, telling reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday, "The direction was set quicker than it was expected to take."
With athletes and sports associations in mind, Yamashita said: "I ask them to understand it was an anguished decision resulting from the idea of putting the safety of athletes first. I want them to make further preparations."
As for the period of postponement, Yamashita said: "The shorter the period, the better for athletes. Thinking of the current state of the coronavirus outbreak, it is actually good that [the period] hasn't been set for that long."
However, the JOC now has to cope with a number of problems, such as what to do with the remaining qualifying trials and how to handle the roughly 100 athletes who have provisionally qualified for the national team.
"Each sports association is in a different situation and has a different policy, and we must respect them," Yamashita said. "We'll ask [each association] to pick athletes fairly."
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