Tokyo opened its first new permanent venue for the 2020 Olympics Saturday in a welcome public relations boost for the organisers after a series of setbacks.
The opening of the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, which will host badminton and modern pentathlon fencing, offers Tokyo organisers some respite after a disastrous rollout of plans for the 2020 Olympic stadium.
“We are making real progress in our preparations,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters at the venue’s opening ceremony.
“We have passed the 1,000-days-to-go mark and intend to build on this momentum and continue the hard work. Together with the people of Tokyo we hope to make the Olympics a success.”
The 10,000-seat venue, which cost an estimated $300 million and will also host wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Paralympics, is the first of eight new permanent venues to be completed.
It contains a swimming pool, gym and fitness studios available for use by the general public and is part-powered by solar energy.
Relief for Tokyo as first new 2020 Olympic venue opens
