LONDON: International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach expressed Friday his gratitude to Japan for its efforts to hold the Tokyo Olympics, postponed by one year to summer 2021 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We can only thank our Japanese partners and friends for their great commitment and their determination, which is absolutely in line with our commitment and our determination to organize these games in a safe and secure way for all the participants and to make these Olympic Games fit for the post-coronavirus world,” Bach said in his New Year’s message posted on the IOC’s official website.

Looking back on 2020, the IOC chief said that all people had “unique experiences and had to face many challenges.”

Noting that the role of sport in different aspects of society has been strengthened during the pandemic, Bach said the Tokyo Games will be “the light at the end of the tunnel” and “a celebration of solidarity, of unity of humankind in all our diversity and of resilience.”

JIJI Press