Tokyo 2020’s One Year To Go Event “Let’s 55 (Go-Go)”
Yesterday the Tokyo Organizing committee hosted a one year to go event named “Let’s 55 (Go Go)”, marking the 365 day point until the games opening ceremonies take place on July 24th 2020. The day was filled with a variety of entertainment for youth and filled with sponsor booths. Some important announcements were also released to the general public later in day during a press event. Here is a quick recap of what took place.
The game resembled the 2 Years To Go Event that took place in the summer of 2018 at the base of the Tokyo Sky Tree. This was a somewhat toned down version of the previous event in terms of the sheer scale of the event. Instead of using the famous landmark in Sumida City, the organizers elected to host it in one of the Olympic and Paralympic venues, The Tokyo International Forum. This venue is smack dab in the heart of Tokyo, mere minutes from the imperial palace and attached to Tokyo Station.
The event started at 10am and finished around 6pm. The weather forecast for much of the morning didn’t co operate with the event staff. Despite the rain, it didn’t stop hundreds of Tokyoites from making their way out to the venue to get a glimpse at some of the ongoing events.
Free gifts were given away by many of the sponsor booths. This swag bag included a variety of things, from the company Meiji supplying ice cream toppings to the Japan Post giving away original 3x3 Basketball goods. Most of these were accompanied with interactive games or a competition of some kind for children. This local sponsorship by domestic companies is unparalleled compared to any previous games. The Tokyo 2020 Games has received over three billion dollars from various corporations, twice the amount of any predecessor.
Inside the venue it mirrored much of what was going on outside, with various activities for the public. This included photo shoots in front of various backdrops, where individuals could hold things like the Olympic torch or pose with various sports equipment. It also featured some athletes, like Japanese national field hockey athlete Sano-san.
During the actual games, the Tokyo International Forum will be host to the Olympic Weightlifting and Paralympic Powerlifting respectively. If you would like to read up on more on the actual facility, check out the link below.
The Big Reveal
The big announcement at the event was the official reveal of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic medal’s design. As it has been reported many times before, the games were able to create all of the thousands of medals from purely recycled materials. Despite this massive amount of media attention focused on the medals, up until now we haven’t actual seen what they will look like. During a press event the design was revealed, with speeches from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe being given.
The front of the medal has an image of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, which is a mandatory design feature enforced by the IOC. The actual shape and other details of the medals are left up to the host nations organizing committee. The design was selected earlier this month by a panel of judges, who looked at over 400 designs and ended up selecting an entry submitted by designer Junichi Kawanishi. The design features some unique elements such as the back ribbons allowing blind people to distinguish the differences between the gold, silver and bronze. The blue and pink ribbon attached to the medal was inspired by the traditional Japanese clothing, the kimono (not related to Kim Kardashian).
The actual amount of donated materials collected has been disclosed by the Tokyo Organizing Committee, with reports of receiving 32 kilograms of gold, 3500 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of copper and zinc. This massive amount of support from the general public allowed these medals to be made of solely recycled materials, the first of its kind in Olympic history. The Paralympic medals have not been shown and will make their debut in August.
That rundown is essentially the gist of the Tokyo 2020 “Let’s 55” event. The organizing committee will begin to ramp up its events within the upcoming year. Many events under the label “Ready Steady Tokyo”, will be used as the test events leading up to the summer games next year. Be sure to check out the Tokyo 2020 website about any potential upcoming events.
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