With growing uncertainty over Tokyo games, Olympic flame arrives in Japan

The Olympic flame on Friday arrived at an airbase in Japan, even as uncertainty continues over the Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

New Delhi [India], March 20 : The Olympic flame on Friday arrived at an airbase in Japan, even as uncertainty continues over the Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Olympic flame was welcomed at the Matsushima Air Base in Miyagi. It made its way to Japan from Greece.

"The Olympic flame has arrived in Japan," the official handle of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics tweeted.

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The orgsers of the Tokyo Olympics earlier revealed that the concept of the games is #HopeLightsOurWay.

This concept was chosen to give a message of recovery and hope to Japan.

On Thursday, Greece had handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 orgsers on Thursday at an event which was 'significantly scaled-down' due to coronavirus pandemic.

The ceremony, which took place at Athens' iconic Panathenaic stadium, did not include the planned cultural ceremonies from Greece or Japan.

Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos handed the torch over to the Tokyo Orgsing committee represented by Naoko Imoto, who lit the lantern and left with it.

The Tokyo Olympic games are slated to be held from July 24 to August 9. However, many athletes have raised concerns over the quadrennial event taking place despite the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier on Wednesday, four-time Olympic rowing champion Matthew Pinsent suggested that the Tokyo Olympics should be called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the IOC had said that they are 'fully committed' to the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic and added that 'there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage' despite coronavirus outbreak.

"The IOC remains fully committed to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and with more than four months to go before the Games there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage, and any speculation at this moment would be counter-productive," IOC had said in a statement.

"The IOC encourages all athletes to continue to prepare for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as best they can," the statement read.

( With inputs from ANI )