Olympic torch relay postponed by Olympic postponement
Stephen Wade
Associated Press
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FILE - In this March 20, 2020, file photo, Japanese comedians Mikio Date, foreground, and Takeshi Tomizawa leave with the Olympic flame during the Flame Arrival Ceremony at Japan Air Self-Defense Force Matsushima Base in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start Thursday, March 26 as planned in northern Fukushima prefecture, but with no torch, no torchbearers, no public, and little ceremony to avoid spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)FILE - In this March 20, 2020, file photo, Tokyo 2020 Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori carries the Olympic flame during the Flame Arrival Ceremony at Japan Air Self-Defense Force Matsushima Base in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start Thursday, March 26 as planned in northern Fukushima prefecture, but with no torch, no torchbearers, no public, and little ceremony to avoid spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
FILE - In this March 20, 2020, file photo, Japanese comedians Mikio Date, foreground, and Takeshi Tomizawa leave with the Olympic flame during the Flame Arrival Ceremony at Japan Air Self-Defense Force Matsushima Base in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start Thursday, March 26 as planned in northern Fukushima prefecture, but with no torch, no torchbearers, no public, and little ceremony to avoid spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
TOKYO – The Olympic torch relay was postponed Tuesday because the Tokyo Games themselves were pushed back to 2021.
Organizers had planned to go ahead with the relay, starting Thursday, despite the spreading coronavirus pandemic. But shortly after the International Olympic Committee officially postponed the games, the president of the organizing committee said the relay would not go ahead.
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“For the time being, the flame will be stored and displayed in Fukushima,” Yoshiro Mori said.
The relay was expected to start in northeastern Fukushima prefecture with no torch, no torchbearers and no public.
The flame arrived from Greece on March 12.
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