2020 Tokyo Olympics: Stadium to be finished in the nick of time

Previous plans scrapped as construction costs rose above $2 billion


Afp August 01, 2015
Artist rendering of the new National Stadium for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. PHOTO: AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan’s new national stadium will only be completed three months before the start of Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics because of a government decision to order a new design, said a top official on Saturday.

Tokyo’s chief Olympic organiser, former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, publicly apologised to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting for the change. But the IOC supported the decision to scrap the old design because of skyrocketing building costs.

IOC vice president John Coates, head of a commission monitoring Tokyo’s preparations, said the stadium “will only be delivered in April 2020”. It is due to host the opening ceremony on July 24 that year.

Normally Olympic venues, particularly of this importance, are handed over at least six months before a Games start.

The Japanese government last month cancelled the construction of a design by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid because the cost had risen above $2 billion.

It will launch a new tender and hopes to have a new design before the end of 2015.

Coates said the IOC was now involved in writing the tender to make sure specifications maintained international standards for athletes and spectators.

The Tokyo organisers have already taken $1.7 billion off the total Games cost by changing other venues. They hope to save several hundred million dollars more with a cheaper stadium.

Despite the savings Tokyo organising committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said the financial situation remains “very tough.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2015.

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