Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) President, Dr Robin Mitchell, officiated at a flag raising ceremony hosted by the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) to mark one-year-to-go until the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Fijian, Japanese and Olympic flags were raised outside the FASANOC headquarters in Suva.
A round table event was also hosted at the the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Fiji, Masahiro Omura. Messages of solidarity were shared, with FASANOC also thanking ONOC, the Embassy of Japan and athletes for their support.
“We want to show that the Olympic community, including ONOC, is still on this journey together, to highlight the athletes who have dedicated their lives to sporting excellence and demonstrated resilience when their Olympic dream is one more year away,” Dr Mitchell mentioned to guests at the roundtable.
Dr Mitchell said the key priorities for the delivery Games next year are, (a) the health and safety of athletes, spectators, stakeholders, volunteers and staff, (b) to reduce the cost impact of postponement and promote public interest, and, to (c) simplify and reduce the complexity of the Games, to ensure they can be organised efficiently, safely and sustainably in this new context.
“From a regional end, ONOC is supporting our member NOC’s with their preparations towards the games through the facilitation training camps in Japan, assistance with their reporting of their Olympic Solidarity activities, and the coordination of additional funds to assist NOCs with their Games preparations,” Dr Mitchell added.