Olympic chiefs were last night confronted by an angry protester after insisting that there is no threat to the Tokyo Games.
An IOC briefing was interrupted by a man, masquerading as a journalist, who unfurled a banner saying ‘NO to the Olympics in Tokyo’.
He then yelled ‘No Olympics anywhere, F*** the Olympics, we don’t want the Olympics anywhere’.
IOC president Thomas Bach had been due to give the briefing but was unexpectedly replaced by presidential spokesperson Mark Adams.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you that it was me, not the president today,” said Adams. “Obviously that would probably have made that stunt a little more interesting.”
Campaign group NOlympicsLA claimed to be behind the protest and warned of more to come in future.
In a statement to Inside The Games , the group said: "Today we wanted to let them know that people all over the world are furious with their callous, life-threatening decisions and that we're not going anywhere. We're just getting louder."
Tokyo is in a pandemic state of emergency - just 71 days out from the Games.
But Adams said: “We are now very much in the implementation phase. We are fully fully concentrated on delivering excellent Games which really will bring the world together.
“We are fully in solidarity with the Japanese people, we understand that these are tough times. We understand that people are very cautious.
“We hope and trust in the Japanese authorities. They have plans and they are working on it."
Adams added: “I hope (the success) of the Test events (in Japan) give Japanese people confidence that these Games can be held in a very safe and secure way.
“Of course I read one or two interviews where people are cautious, but the huge majority of views I’ve seen expressed by athletes is that they’re looking forward to the Games and think they can be safe and secure.”
