TOKYO’S campaign to convince the world’s top athletes its Olympics will be safe has swung fully into action – despite protests going ahead outside the £1billion National Stadium.
On Sunday, 420 athletes – including only nine from outside Japan – took part in a test event at the incredible Tokyo arena.
About 100 protestors gathered outside holding posters and banners, some of which read: ‘Olympics Kill The Poor.’
Major doubts persist over whether the Games can still go ahead, from July 23, due to the Covid crisis.
A state of emergency has been extended in several regions of Japan, including Tokyo, with just 74 days until the opening ceremony.
Yet American sprinter Justin Gatlin and World Athletics chief Seb Coe insist it is safe to compete.
After winning the 100 metres yesterday, drug cheat Gatlin said: “I felt beyond safe.
“The bubble has been very successful. The only time that I’ve ever seen the outside is when we get on the bus to go to the track.
“We work out, then we go back to the hotel. We don’t even eat in a cafeteria or a meeting ground, we take our food to our room and we just eat in our room.
“I know a lot of athletes are not going to be happy with this but the measures are in place to keep everyone safe – and I think it is working.”
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The Olympics and Paralympics are set to draw 15,000 athletes and tens of thousands of officials, judges, media and broadcasters to a country that has had its borders closed for more than a year.
Japan has suffered almost 11,000 deaths due to Covid – a low number by global standards but high compared to Asian neighbours like Taiwan and Vietnam.
An online petition calling for the Games – which has cost Japan at least £10BILLION – to be scrapped has gained 300,000 signatures in just three days and was still climbing yesterday.
Coe, president of World Athletics, said: “We are very empathetic to the need to be fully recognising that communities around the world are nervous about Covid.
“We take those concerns very, very seriously.
“Covid protocols, particularly that World Athletics developed over the past one-and-a-half years by our health and science teams, consistently helped deliver safe and secure events.”
Coe, who revealed there had not been any positive Covid cases stemming from last weekend’s World Athletics Relays in Poland, insisted athletes understood the rules and that the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games would be different to any other Olympics.
The Brit added: “I speak to the athletes all the time.
“The vast majority wanting to get into the Games are understanding that it will not be the type of Games they’ve experienced before.
“But they still know they would rather be here than sit out the dance.”
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