Arrangements are being made to transport the Olympic flame in a lantern by car, instead of having runners carry it via torch, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, according to sources close to the event.
This major change in the torch relay, which is scheduled to start Thursday, is aimed at preventing large numbers of spectators from gathering on the streets. The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics plans to transport the flame this way for the time being.
Based on the possibility that the opening ceremony will be held on July 24 as scheduled, the organizing committee plans to complete the flame relay in 121 days by driving on a route decided in consultations with prefectural governments and other organizations.
The scale of the opening ceremony for the relay, to be held at the J-Village soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture, will be drastically reduced. The Japanese women's national soccer team, known as Nadeshiko Japan, were supposed to be the first bearers of the flame, but now they will not run.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
