• “I can’t say (the Games) were a 100 pct success, but I think we’ve cleared a certain bar,” she said.

TOKYO: This summer’s Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games satisfied certain standards despite the coronavirus pandemic, Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Games organizing committee, indicated Monday.

Looking back at the Tokyo Games, which ended with the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics Sunday, Hashimoto told a news conference, “We couldn’t hold (the Games) in a complete form.”

“I can’t say (the Games) were a 100 pct success, but I think we’ve cleared a certain bar,” Hashimoto also said.

As the Tokyo Games took place amid a resurgence of the coronavirus in Japan, the biggest challenge was to implement measures against the virus.

There were hardly any cases in which the Games’ COVID-19 playbook was violated. The number of infections confirmed among athletes and other people linked to the Games totaled 856 as of Monday, according to a tally by the committee.

“I think history will prove whether the Tokyo Games were a complete success or not,” Hashimoto said.

After the Games were held without spectators in principle, ticket revenues, initially expected to total 90 billion yen, came to nearly zero. The committee is expected to incur a deficit.

“Who will cover the possible deficit “will be decided at talks among the national and (Tokyo) metropolitan governments and the organizing committee later,” Toshiro Muto, director-general of the committee, said.

Prior to its dissolution next year, the organizing committee will carry out remaining duties such as settlements of accounts and record keeping, while reducing its personnel, which has reached around 7,000 at the highest.

Muto said the committee is likely to close the books next April or later, noting that it will take time to dismantle temporary equipment and restore related facilities to their original state.

JIJI Press