Tokyo 2020 Olympics Notebook - Day 9

Tokyo Governor visits government’s media centre 

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With the eagerly-anticipated Tokyo 2020 Games just three days away, the Tokyo Media Center (TMC) will have its grand opening tomorrow.

Yesterday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike visited the media centre where she viewed the workspace and some display booths.

The TMC was set up by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to serve domestic and international media during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is separate from the Main Press Centre (MPC) and International Broadcast Centre (IBC) which are operated by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. 

Lights, camera, arrest: Ugandan defector seen on camera

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The media here is also reporting that a man believed to be the Ugandan athlete who disappeared last week from his team’s training camp in Japan has been spotted on a surveillance camera at a local train station.

Julius Ssekitoleko, a weightlifter, was seen by CCTV cameras at the JR Nagoya Station, about 200 kilometres from where he had been staying, the japan Times said, quoting a police source.

He is said to have purchased a ticket to Nagoya on Friday morning. Ssekitoleko had a mobile phone but his passport was kept by the Ugandan team, which arrived in Japan on June 19.

Daily, easy to do PCR tests for media

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At the Olympic Games’ Main Press Centre here in Tokyo, a huge section has been dedicated to PCR tests for Covid-19.

Upon arrival at the testing centre, one takes a bag with a container to store a saliva sample which is handed in and subsequently tracked through one’s accreditation number and special barcode attached to the sample container.

Results are then shared in the entire Olympic system and should one test positive, then his or her country’s Covid-19 Liaison Officer is duly informed. One can hardy access any facility without daily test results!

Guests’ movements monitored intensely

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I was taken aback yesterday as I left my downtown Tokyo hotel for the Main Press Centre. A security guard at the hotel asked me to fill in a form where I indicated the time of departure from the hotel and, upon return, the time of arrival.

Guests leave the hotel strictly for work engagements. Should you wish to take a stroll or laze outside the hotel, the rules stipulate that you should not be gone for more than 15 minutes!

Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency in a bid to check the spread of Covid-19.