Tokyo 2020; 6 Months to Go – Construction Update

Construction Update

Venue Scheduled completion date
Musashino Forest Sport Plaza March 2017 (completed)
Yumenoshima Park Archery Field February 2019 (completed)
Sea Forest Waterway May 2019 (completed)
Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre May 2019 (completed)
Oi Hockey Stadium June 2019 (completed)
Ariake Gymnastics Centre October 2019 (completed)
Olympic Stadium November 2019 (completed)
Ariake Arena December 2019 (completed)
Tokyo Aquatics Centre February 2020 (96% completed)

 

Update by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games:

A total of 43 venues—eight new permanent venues, 25 existing sites and 10 temporary venues—will be used at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. All but one of the new permanent venues are already complete and the overall preparation of all venues is progressing on schedule. Last month, the new Olympic Stadium – a state-of-the-art venue that will serve generations of athletes and spectators to come – was officially opened to the public and on New Year’s Day hosted its first official sporting competition.

The residential buildings of the Athletes’ Village were completed in December 2019. Members of the media will get their first look at the Village Plaza, to be constructed completely from timber donated from 63 local municipalities in all 47 prefectures, next week. After the Games have ended, the Plaza will be dismantled and the timber returned to the donor municipalities to be reused in local projects, connecting communities throughout Japan to the legacy of the Tokyo Games.

 

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Tokyo 2020; Photos: Construction update May – June 2019

Ariake Arena

Ariake Arena (Exterior of venue): June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Ariake Arena (Interior of venue): June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Sea Forest Waterway

Sea Forest Waterway: May 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre

Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre: June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Tokyo Aquatics Centre

Tokyo Aquatics Centre (Exterior of venue): June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan
Government
Tokyo Aquatics Centre (Interior of venue): June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Olympic Village/Paralympic Village

Olympic Village/Paralympic Village: June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Olympic Village/Paralympic Village: June 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Oi Hockey Stadium

Oi Hockey Stadium: May 2019/ © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

 

Photos via The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020; Video: Olympic Stadium 90% complete

 

Other venues

Tokyo 2020; Construction update 9 new venues (June 2019)

新国立競技場 New National Stadium

 

Venue Scheduled completion date
Musashino Forest Sport Plaza March 2017 (completed)
Yumenoshima Park Archery Field February 2019 (completed)
Sea Forest Waterway May 2019 (completed)
Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre May 2019 (completed)
Oi Hockey Stadium Construction will be completed soon.
Ariake Gymnastics Centre October 2019
Olympic Stadium November 2019
Ariake Arena December 2019
Tokyo Aquatics Centre February 2020

Tokyo 2020; Archery venue completed

Last weekend, The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic archery venue was opened.

 

 

 

 

News report (in Japanese)

 

Read more:
Yumenoshima Park Archery Field hits the bullseye (press release IOC)
Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic archery venue officially opened (press release World Archery)

Tokyo 2020; Construction update (February 2019)

Venue Olympic sports Completed Scheduled completion date
Musashino Forest Sport Plaza Badminton, Modern Pentathlon (fencing) 100% March 2017
Yumenoshima Park Archery Field Archery 90% May 2019
Sea Forest Waterway Rowing and Canoe Sprint 77% May 2019
Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre Canoe Slalom 74% December 2019
Olympic Village 73% (residential) / 18% (commercial) December 2019
Ariake Gymnastics Centre Gymnastics 62% October 2019
Olympic Stadium Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Athletics, Football > 60% November 2019
Tokyo Aquatics Centre Swimming, Diving and Artistic Swimming 55% February 2020
Ariake Arena Volleyball 51% December 2019
Oi Hockey Stadium Hockey 48% June 2019

Data via Tokyo2020 and Tristan Lavier (Tokyo2020 International Communications Manager) on Twitter. More info and photos here.

 

Tokyo 2020; 7th IOC Coordination Commission visit – Press release IOC

Tokyo 2020 on track to deliver unifying Olympic Games

During its seventh visit to Tokyo (3-5 December), it was clear to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission that the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee is on track to host unifying Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“I can only reiterate what IOC President Thomas Bach said during his recent visit: these Olympic Games will bring people together in a spirit of hope and determination,” said IOC Coordination Commission Chair John Coates. “All of the ingredients for success are here. Venues are on time, stakeholders are engaged, and you can feel the power of sport everywhere.

“With this high level of preparation, Tokyo 2020 can continue to focus on the particular Tokyo issue of potential adverse weather conditions and the transport issues that these Games face in a city the size of Tokyo. I am pleased to see that we have been able to make some important decisions this week, with the timing adjustments to rugby and mountain bike. With less than 600 days to go, we must all maintain the momentum and work together to make the Olympic Games a success in every way, including leaving a lasting legacy as strong as that of 1964.”

As a result of collaboration between the IOC, Tokyo 2020, the IOC Medical & Science Working Group, the relevant International Federations, athlete representatives and Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS), changes to the session competition schedule have been confirmed.

Morning sessions for rugby will now finish by 12 p.m., while evening sessions will begin at 4.30 p.m. Likewise, mountain bike will now start at 3 p.m. in order to ensure better conditions for the athletes and spectators. Work is ongoing on other endurance events like marathon and race walking, with the aim of confirming these events by the end of the year.

The IOC Coordination Commission visited the locations of four Olympic venues, including the Ariake Arena, the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, the Olympic Promenade and Yokohama Stadium.

Both the Ariake Arena, which will host volleyball, and the Ariake Gymnastics Centre are progressing rapidly, with the Arena now more than 40 per cent complete, while the Gymnastics Centre is 50 per cent finished.

The Coordination Commission then paid its first visit to the Olympic Promenade, which will connect seven competition venues within walking distance. The adjacent areas such as Aomi and Ariake will feature some new sports that will appear on the Olympic programme for the first time. The promenade, which offers spectacular views of the iconic Tokyo Bay and is a short trip from the Olympic Village, is expected to attract thousands of fans and serve as a hub for young people.

The visit concluded with a stop at Yokohama Baseball Stadium in the Kanagawa prefecture, where Olympic gold medal softball player Eri Yamada and Olympic baseball bronze medallist Daisuke Miura, together with Yokohama professional baseball players Yasuaki Yamasaki and Kenta Ishida, joined the Coordination Commission to review the plans for the Games. Home to one of Japan’s professional baseball teams, as well as Japan’s first multipurpose stadium, the facility will soon be upgraded to include an additional 6,000 seats, which will improve its existing capacity needs.

“Baseball in Japan pushes the game by skills rather than by power, so I will do my best to be selected by the team for Tokyo 2020,” said Yamazaki. “It is the national game in my home country, Japan, so I would warmly welcome people from abroad, and I’m hoping that I can show them great competition during the Olympics.”

Not only will improved infrastructure serve the people of Tokyo for decades to come, but the Games are also acting as a catalyst for Tokyo 2020’s metropolitan government partners to advance human rights policies and address city accessibility issues. These advancements reflect the Organising Committee’s vision that sport has the power to change the world.

“With less than 600 days to go until the opening of the Games, discussions are becoming increasingly concrete,” said Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori. “In the past week, we’ve had the opportunity to report on the status of our preparations to the ANOC General Assembly, the IOC Executive Board and this Coordination Commission, and have received very positive feedback. President Bach said that he had never seen a host city so prepared two years ahead of the Games. We will make sure not to let such positive feedback go to our heads, and will redouble our efforts to work as a team towards a successful delivery of the Olympic Games.”

An increase in engagement was also notably evident, as volunteer sign-up applications surpassed Tokyo’s goal, with more than 110,000 submissions from both domestic and international audiences as people seek to take this opportunity to become part of the Olympic Games experience.

Demonstrating that these Olympic Games are for all of Japan, government leaders from the Japanese prefectures of Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka were also on site to provide updates on the respective competitions they will host.

Several members of the Olympic and Paralympic movements also came together for the Coordination Commission for this visit, offering their expertise to ensure that athletes, fans and stakeholders all experience unforgettable Olympic Games. These included National Olympic Committees – Brazil, Great Britain, Japan, Oceania National Olympic Committees, Sweden and the USA – and TOP partner representatives – Bridgestone, Intel, Panasonic, Toyota and Visa.

Olympic Agenda 2020’s the New Norm continues to benefit the Tokyo 2020 budget, resulting in an additional USD 2.1 billion in savings. This brings Tokyo’s total savings since the start of Olympic Agenda 2020 to USD 4.3 billion. The Organising Committee is working on its third version of the budget, and is expecting to maintain a balanced operating budget which will be entirely privately funded, translating into no cost for the taxpayers.

Examples of recent New Norm implementations include the reduction of the size of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), the reduction in accredited seating areas to increase the number of tickets available to the public, and turnkey solutions for the Games-time website and mobile app.

Tokyo 2020; Construction update Ariake Gymnastics Centre (November 2018)

Ariake Gymnastics Centre – Facts & Figures

  • Capacity; 12.000 seats
  • Sports
    • Olympics Games: Gymnastics
    • Paralympic Games: Boccia
  • Head Architect; Hidemichi Takahashi
  • Estimated costs; 20.5 million Yen
  • Legacy; Convention Centre (2020-2030)
  • Dimensions overall roof;
    • Width; 90m
    • Length; 120mm
    • The roof consists of 5 sections
  • Second section (raised into place last week)
    • Width; 70m
    • Length; 15m
    • Weight; 200tons
  • Material roof: local larch (2.300 cubic meters)

 

Tweets by @trilavier and @StephenWadeAP

 

Read more; Raising the roof on 2020 Tokyo Olympics gymnastics venue [AP]