In 1964, Tokyo became the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games, propelling Japan into the modern era.

The city now hosts the Olympic Games in the summer of 2021, exactly one year after the scheduled date of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games until summer 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic was made jointly by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach .

IMPORTANT DATES

These will take place over 17 days from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The opening ceremony will take place at the new Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

Sports activity will begin two days before with the first soccer, baseball and softball games. The qualifying rounds for rowing and archery are expected to begin on the day of the ceremony.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will begin 15 days after the Olympic Games close.

OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONY

It will be the biggest and most watched ceremonies of the year, with billions of people tuning in at the same time to watch the spectacle and celebrate the Olympic spirit.

As part of the preparations, the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games has established a Basic Policy to offer a ceremony that everyone can enjoy and at the same time highlight the attractiveness of Japan and Tokyo for the world.

Opening ceremony

Closing ceremony

PROHIBITION OF ENTRY FOR VISITORS

After careful consideration, the Japanese government has imposed a ban on foreign visitors to the Tokyo Olympics to curb the spread of COVID-19 and prevent another wave of coronavirus in Japan.

The IOC has announced that it fully respects the difficult decision and President Thomas Bach has said that “health and safety must prevail. Every decision has to respect, above all, the principle of safety”.

OLYMPIC VENUES

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic venues are located in two main zones: the Heritage Zone (the area of ​​the '64 Olympic Games) and the Tokyo Bay Area (which will feature newly built venues).

The two zones will overlap to form the shape of the infinity symbol, symbolizing the legacy of the games and the link between the past, present and future.

In total, 43 venues are used. The Tokyo Bay Area will be the largest with 13 venues, the Heritage Zone will contain seven, and there will also be some outlying venues for sports with specific requirements.

Thousands of volunteers, who will be the ambassadors of the Olympic Games, will help ensure the proper functioning of the stadiums.

The New National Stadium will serve as the main stadium, just as it did in the 1964 Olympic Games. The stadium is being rebuilt on the same site and will seat 68,000. All track and field events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies will take place there.

The venues for the Olympic Games in Tokyo are divided into three zones. They are the following:

Tokyo Metropolitan Area (8 kilometers from the Olympic Village)

Tokyo shopping area and legacy venues from the 1964 Olympics

Tokyo Bay Area

OLYMPIC SPORTS

The Tokyo Olympic Games will feature 339 events, 33 sports and 50 disciplines. There are five new sports (baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, rock climbing, and surfing), as well as 15 new events within existing sports (such as 3x3 basketball and freestyle BMX).

Softball, with matches, will be the first sport to debut from 9 am on July 21, two days before the opening ceremony. The Australia-Japan will be the one that will inaugurate the program of the Games. That same day women's soccer joins the competition calendar.

Although the development of the competitions may alter the order, most likely the first medal will be in shooting, in the women's 10-meter air rifle event, on the morning of the 24th. The last one will be the men's water polo, on the 8th, just a couple of hours before the closing ceremony.

How many sports are there?

The Tokyo 2020 program is made up of 33 sports, including 50 disciplines and 339 events.

A sport is the one that gives its name to the federation (for example, gymnastics); a discipline or modality, each of its variants (artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics); one event, each medal competition (parallel bars).

What have been the fixed sports since 1896?

Only four: athletics, swimming, gymnastics and fencing.

Which are the sports with more modalities?

Swimming (swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming, diving and water polo) and cycling (road, track, mountain and BMX).

And those with the most tests are swimming, 49; athletics, 48; and cycling, 22.

What are the new sports and events?

Tokyo 2020 will have five new sports on the Olympic programme. Baseball or softball are among the new sports this summer, but these two disciplines were already separate sports that took place at the Olympic Games until Beijing 2008.

For four of the novelties, however, this will be their Olympic debut. Karate, surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding have been selected to compete in Tokyo 2020 for the first time in the history of the Games.

In addition to new sports, you will also be able to see new disciplines in sports that were already included, such as 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, and mixed competitions in different sports: swimming, athletics, triathlon, judo, shooting, table tennis and shooting with bow.

Which day will there be more finals?

Saturday, August 7, will be the stellar day of the Games, with medals in 19 disciplines: athletics, basketball, handball, baseball, boxing, track cycling, soccer, rhythmic gymnastics, golf, horse riding, karate, artistic swimming, modern pentathlon, canoeing, springboard diving, volleyball, beach volleyball and water polo.

PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES

North Korea is the only country out of 206 that has announced it will not participate due to covid-19. The athletes, technical staff, members of federations, the press and the rest of the participants in the Olympic movement will be part of a huge bubble to avoid contagion with the locals.

It is not mandatory for athletes to arrive in Japan vaccinated, but it is recommended. They have calculated that 80% of the occupants of the Olympic Village will be. From the Organizing Committee, in addition, they have asked the countries to limit their stay in Japanese territory as much as possible.

The athletes, who will have to undergo two prior PCR tests before traveling -one 96 hours before and another 48- and will undergo another upon arrival at the Tokyo airport, will not be able to access the Olympic Village until five days before start competing and they will have to leave it within 48 hours after the end of their participation.

Athletes will not have to comply with the 14-day quarantine currently required by the Japanese Government for all travelers arriving from abroad, although they must undergo new tests upon arrival in the country and subsequently daily for the duration of their stay, in addition to wear a mask most of the time

In addition, they will only be able to use the means of transport authorized by the organization and not public transport, and they will only be able to eat in their accommodation facilities and in the competition and training venues.

THE MEDALS

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be an ecological Games since the medals will be made of metal recycled from smartphones and other electronic devices.

Starting in April of last year, the Japan Olympic Committee went out to collect donations of mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices with the idea of ​​recycling to make Olympic medals.

Approximately 5,000 medals have been manufactured to be awarded in different sports disciplines throughout the Olympic Games.

In total, 32 kilograms of gold, 3,500 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze.

71 countries have never won a medal, 38 never a gold

Among the 205 countries that will participate in the Games, there are 71 that have never won an Olympic medal.

Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador, Honduras, Libya, Malta, Nepal, Nicaragua and Palestine are on the list of teams that will arrive at the Tokyo Games with the intention of making their debut on the podium, something they have achieved average of five countries in each of the last three editions.

PETS

The mascot for Tokyo 2020 is a futuristic blue character named Miraitowa. He has the Tokyo 2020 emblem on his head and on his body. The design process included five million children from all over Japan who gave their opinion and approval to the different proposals.

Miraitowa's personality is derived from a traditional Japanese proverb that means learning old things and gaining new knowledge from them. The pet has a great sense of justice and has the super power to move anywhere instantly.

The 2020 Paralympic mascot is pink and is named Someity. She has cherry blossom touch sensors and 3 super powers: telepathy, telekinesis, and the ability to fly thanks to her special cape. Someity has incredible inner strength and loves nature. Both characters have the Tokyo 2020 logo on their head.

THE OLYMPIC TORCH

The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, on March 12 of the same year, one day after the ninth anniversary of the catastrophe that devastated the Tohoku region, at the northern end of the main island of the Japanese archipelago.

From there, and following tradition, the flame traveled to Japan, where it was displayed from March 20 to 25 in the prefectures of Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi, which suffered the worst consequences of the 2011 disaster.

HOW MANY HOURS DIFFERENCE IS THERE FROM TOKYO?

There are seven hours difference with respect to the Spanish peninsular time.

HOW MANY SPANIARDS PARTICIPATE IN TOKYO?

The Spanish Olympic team that will compete in Tokyo 2020 will be made up of 320 athletes, 184 men and 137 women.

In addition, this represents an increase of 15 athletes compared to the Spanish Olympic team that competed five years ago in Rio de Janeiro. Spain will have representation in 29 of the 33 sports present in Tokyo, all except rugby, baseball, wrestling and surfing.

Spain will be represented in Tokyo in all sports except 10: 3x3 basketball, baseball, softball, BMX cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics, wrestling, rugby 7, surfing and volleyball.

HOW MANY MADRILEÑOS COMPETE IN TOKYO?

The Community of Madrid will have a large representation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Athletics, with eight, has the largest representation of the 44 athletes from Madrid in Japan.

Madrid athletics has the largest number of Madrid athletes with Pablo Sánchez-Valladares (800 meters), Carlos Mayo (5,000 and 10,000 meters), Fernando Carro (3,000 meter obstacles), Diego García (20 km walk), Jesús Bragado (50 km walk), Aauri Lorena Bokesa (400 meters) Lucía Rodríguez (5,000 meters) and Julio Arenas (4x400 mixed relay).

The Spanish taekwondo team is made up of three out of four from Madrid, Adrián Vicente, Javier Pérez Polo and Adriana Cerezo.

In skeet shooting it will feature Alberto Fernández, Inés de Velasco in archery, Diego Botín in sailing and in beach volleyball the Majariega born in the United States Elsa Baquerizo.

WHAT IS THE EQUIPMENT OF THE SPANISH ATHLETES?

Spain is committed to the national brand Joma and designs in white and navy blue with touches of red and yellow, breathable clothing made with polyester yarn extracted from recycled plastics from the sea

The models that presented the clothing were the taekwondo athlete Adriana Cerezo, the field hockey player Carmen Cano, the karateka Damián Quintero, the athletes Ana Patricia Campos and Julio Arenas Robles and the canoeist Paco Cubelos.

WHO ARE THE SPANISH FLAG-BEARERS?

The canoeist Saúl Craviotto and the swimmer Mireia Belmonte, who have eight Olympic medals, will be the flag bearers of the Spanish team at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, on July 23.

Saúl Craviotto defined himself as "the happiest athlete in the world". "You cannot imagine how happy you have made me," he told the presidents of the federations that made the decision.

For her part, Mireia Belmonte assured that it was "an honor and a pride" to assume that role in what will be her first opening ceremony, since she has not been in any of her three previous Games.

THE PLUS OF GETTING TO KNOW THE OLYMPIC GLORY

Six Spanish athletes out of the 320 who attend the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have already tasted Olympic glory. Do you remember them?

Saul Craviotto

The ilerdense not only can boast of being an Olympic champion but can also do it twice. First, he won gold in Beijing 2008 in the K-2 500 with Carlos Pérez Rial, and then he repeated five years ago with the aforementioned Toro in the K-2 200.

In Tokyo, where he will be the flag bearer together with Mireia Belmonte, he will have two options, in the K-1 200 and the K-4 500, to become the most successful in Olympic history, surpassing David Cal and the athlete with more gold

Mireia Belmonte

Together with Craviotto leading the national delegation at the Opening Ceremony will be the swimmer from Badalona, ​​who also has a gold medal, although, curiously, it is the 200 butterfly that she won in Rio and that she will not be able to defend in Tokyo.

The Catalan, who will compete in her fourth Games, has won four Olympic medals and also aspires to be the most successful in history with her options in the 1,500 and 800 freestyle, and the 400 medley.

Lydia Valentin

The Leonese weightlifter will also be present in Tokyo in search of expanding her Olympic record, currently with three medals, one of each color.

Gold came to him in London 2012 in the -75 kg category, but he did not receive it until seven years later due to doping. He will seek to be crowned in a new category, the 87 kilos.

Maialen Chourraut

The Gipuzkoan paddler will also look for her second gold and, in her case, if she will defend the title, since she was proclaimed champion in Rio 2016 in the K-1 whitewater category, with the addition of doing it after being a mother. Bronze winner in the same discipline in London 2012.

Marcus Walz

Another component of the thriving canoeing. The Spanish paddler was one of the surprises five years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Games when he swept his power in the K-1 1000 meters.

Now, he will be part of the K-4 500 along with Saúl Craviotto, Rodrigo Germade and Carlos Arévalo.

Tamara Echegoyen

The Galician sailor will participate in Tokyo in her third Games and with the endorsement of being Olympic champion in London 2012 in the match-race crew together with Ángela Pumariega and Sofía Toro.

After failing to increase her medal tally together with Berta Betanzos in Rio 2016 in 49er FX, she will once again try her luck in this class together with Paula Barceló, with whom she was proclaimed world champion in 2020.

THE UNFORTUNITY OF RUNNING OUT OF THE GAMES

Being in the Olympic Games is possibly the greatest ambition and dream of the vast majority of athletes around the world.

For this reason, suffering an injury in the previous months is one of the biggest fears they face, an unfortunate situation from which several Spanish athletes have not been able to escape, whose dream of being in Tokyo fell apart due to a physical mishap.

Carolina Marin

The player from Huelva will not be able to defend her historic badminton Olympic title won in Rio de Janeiro five years ago after suffering a serious injury to her right knee barely a month after traveling to the Japanese capital.

The Andalusian already suffered another serious injury to the other knee at the beginning of 2019 from which she managed to recover in the best way and the postponement due to the pandemic had been good for her to once again offer a great competitive level.

Aitor Ariño, Dani Dujshebaev and Cañellas

Hispanics are candidates to be in the fight for the medals in the Tokyo Olympic handball tournament, where they arrive as double European and World Cup bronze champions.

However, in an unfortunate March, Jordi Ribera lost center-back Dani Dusjhebaev and winger Aitor Ariño due to breaks in the previous crusader, while before flying to Japan, Joan Cañellas was left without a muscle injury in the twin

Ansu Fati

The young FC Barcelona striker could have been on the shortlist to play with the Olympic soccer team in Tokyo, but the meniscus injury in his left knee forced him to undergo surgery twice and leave him without a Eurocup and, perhaps, without Games.

Mikel Landa

The Basque cyclist was, together with Alejandro Valverde, the other option to fight for a medal in the Games as confirmed by the national coach Pascual Momparler, but a fall in May in the Giro d'Italia caused him to fracture his clavicle and in the ribs that separated him, not only from the Tour de France, but also from the Olympic event.

Ana Pérez and Cintia Rodríguez

Spanish artistic gymnastics has not been spared from misfortunes in the form of injuries and the women's team will not be able to compete with two of its best members, Ana Pérez and Cintia Rodríguez.

The Sevillian could not recover in time from a serious ankle injury suffered last January and the Spaniard had to resign in June due to problems with her left knee that forced her to undergo surgery.

Irene Sánchez-Escribano and Bruno Hortelano

Spanish athletics stayed just over a week before the start of the Games without the contest of the long-distance runner from Toledo, who fractured her left foot while training.

The sprinter, immersed in an ordeal since his accident after the Rio de Janeiro Games, finally could not find the state of form to be able to compete in Tokyo.

Sara Alvarez

The judoka from Lugo hurried her chances of qualifying for the Games in the World Cup last June, but everything ended for her in the worst way when in her second match in the +78 kilos category she seriously injured her left knee and said goodbye to sleep.

SPAIN IN RIO 2016, 17 MEDALS, SEVEN GOLD

A total of 17 medals. This is the figure reached by the athletes of the Spanish delegation at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.

Spain managed to win seven gold medals, four avocado and six bronze.

Gold (7)

Silver (4)

Bronze (6)