All Tokyo 2020 venues completed on schedule

Saturday, 7 March 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

People take a selfie in front of the Giant Olympic rings at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters): Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Friday that work on the Aquatics Centre was finished in February meaning that all the venues built for this year’s Olympics have been completed on time.

The Aquatics Centre, which will host swimming and diving events at Tokyo 2020, was one of eight new venues built for the Summer Olympics, in addition to the athletes’ village.

The National Stadium, which will form the centrepiece of the Games and host the opening ceremony on July 24, was completed ahead of schedule in November 2019. A total of 43 venues, including 25 existing facilities and 10 temporary venues, will be used at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

This news comes at a time when the coronavirus outbreak has raised questions about whether the Games will be postponed or cancelled, although the government has been insistent in recent days that the competition will begin as scheduled.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has said that cancellation is not even being discussed.

The flu-like coronavirus, which can be transmitted from person to person, originated in China late last year and has spread to more than 60 countries. Almost 91,000 have been infected and over 3,000 have died, most of them in China.

Earlier this week, Japan confirmed coronavirus infections rose above 1,000, most of them from a quarantined cruise liner. Twelve people have died in the country.