Since the marathon event during the 2020 Olympics and Paralympic games will kick start during the summer season, the Olympic organizing committee in Japan, in coordination with the International Olympic Committee plans to move the location of the marathons from the capital city, Tokyo to Sapporo.
Considering the extreme summer heat in the Land of the Rising Sun in summer, it might have an adverse impact on the health and well being of the participants and spectator if they insist to push through with the games in Tokyo.
In this regard, the Olympic organizing committee suggested holding the marathon event in Sapporo’s Odori Park where the start and finish line of the Hokkaido Marathon usually takes place. The Odori Park is the Tokyo organizing committee’s choice while the International Olympic Committee has previously considering the Sapporo Dome. But the latter is said to have a number of logistical difficulties for the marathon event such as but not limited to having narrow walk ways for the ingress and egress to the establishments and the lack of an adequate running track.
With less than three hundred days before the commencement of the much anticipated 2020 Olympics and Paralympic games in Japan, the organizers made a prompt decision to set a new marathon course in Odori Park based on the route used for the Hokkaido Marathon instead of designing a new set of course.
The Tokyo organizing committee will be presenting their plan and course of action during the special session of the International Olympic Coordination Committee meeting which will start this coming October 30, 2019 in Tokyo.
During the meeting, both the local and international organizing committee will discuss if the new course is fitted to be used for the race walking event because the height fluctuations in Sapporo Dome cannot accommodate the said sport.
Meanwhile, both committees agree that holding the marathon events in Odori Park may possibly lessen the number of spectators and eventually lead to a low ticket revenue as compared to other events because the venue lacks enough space for large scale seating.
Reference: Sapporo’s Odori Park considered for new 2020 marathon course
