TOKYO: Tokyo will scrap events marking a year to go until the postponed 2020 Olympic Games, organizers said Friday, citing the “current economic situation” caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Games have been pushed back until July 23, 2021 because of the disease outbreak, though it remains unclear whether even that delay will be sufficient.
Last year, the city and organizers held a series of events to mark the one-year countdown, including unveiling the newly designed medals.
But given the global crisis, organizers ruled out a similar celebration.
“In view of the current economic situation, Tokyo 2020 will not be holding any events to mark the new one year to go milestone for the Games,” the organizers said.
“But we will consider what we can do to show our solidarity with the people.”
The confirmation came after reports in the Japanese media that organizers would scrap the event, fearing it was inappropriate given the global pandemic and the ongoing risk of infection inside Japan.
Kyodo News agency reported that posters and messages of encouragement to athletes might be put up and displayed online instead, adding that the organizing committee felt a more “moderate tone” was appropriate.
A nationwide state of emergency over the virus has been lifted in Japan, but a recent rise in cases in Tokyo has led to fears of a second wave.
The latest reports come after Tokyo’s governor confirmed the city and organizers are looking at ways to scale back next year’s Games.
Japanese media said streamlining plans could involve cutting the number of spectators and reducing participation in the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily quoted an unnamed source as saying that everyone including athletes, officials and spectators would be required to take a test for the virus.
Tokyo 2020 declined to comment on those reports, saying discussions about coronavirus countermeasures would be held “from this autumn onwards.”
Organizers and Tokyo officials face the twin headaches of ensuring the postponed Games can be held safely, given the pandemic, and keeping additional costs to a minimum.
But with the pandemic continuing to rage in much of the world, it remains unclear whether the Games can be held next year.
On Friday, a member of the organizing committee’s executive board said a decision on whether the Games could be held or not would need to be taken in spring.
“I think we need to decide around March next year,” Toshiaki Endo, a former Olympic minister told reporters, denying speculation that the IOC intends to make a decision in October.
IOC chief Thomas Bach said last month that 2021 was the “last option” for holding the Tokyo Games, stressing that postponement cannot go on forever.
He declined to say whether a vaccine was a prerequisite for going ahead with the Olympics, but was lukewarm on the idea of holding them behind closed doors.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said it would be “difficult” to hold the postponed Tokyo Olympics if the coronavirus pandemic is not contained.
And Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori has said the Olympics would have to be canceled if the disease isn’t under control by next year.
Tokyo to skip one-year Olympic countdown over coronavirus: organizers
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Tokyo to skip one-year Olympic countdown over coronavirus: organizers
- Games pushed back until July 23, 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak
‘Papaya’s not going anywhere’: How McLaren banished the wilderness years on and off the track
- On-track success of 2 constructors’ championships and Lando Norris’s title win matched by a rebrand attracting a new generation of fans to the British F1 team
ABU DHABI: It’s been just over a week since Lando Norris claimed his first Formula One championship title, but for McLaren’s growing army of supporters the party continues.
When the British driver crossed the finish line at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit in third place to confirm his title victory, you could be forgiven for thinking the post-race celebrations had a familiar look to others in recent years at the season-closing Grand Prix in the UAE’s capital.
This time however, the celebrating fans were sporting the orange of McLaren’s distinctive “papaya” livery, rather than the orange of Max Verstappen’s native Netherlands.
The resurgence of the British team in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. On the track, their overwhelming supremacy has been secured by a superior car and two gifted drivers in Norris and Australia’s Oscar Piastri. Off it, they deployed one of motor sport’s most successful rebranding campaigns, as a result of which McLaren’s main color now rivals Ferrari’s red as the most iconic in F1.
“You know, it was the fans’ choice to bring papaya back,” Matt Dennington, co-chief commercial officer at McLaren, told Arab News.
“Back in, I think it was 2016, we went out to our fans and it was an overwhelming ‘yes’ that they wanted to see our heritage come back into the team. It’s a key brand asset for us.”
Speaking during a “Live Your Fandom” event at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, co-hosted with Velo, a team sponsor since 2019, he said: “For us, the fans are the lifeblood of our sport. We don’t go racing without them, and to be able to celebrate our fans and our partners together has been awesome.”
Norris’s success in Abu Dhabi was a crowning moment for the team, but the development on the track has been clear and dramatic for several years.
In 2017, the team finished a lowly ninth out of 10 in the constructors’ championship. Improvements to the car, particularly after switching to a Mercedes engine, helped the team move up to become a fixture in the “mid-field” F1 grid. Then, in 2024, came the giant leap forward as McLaren won the team title and then retained it this year.
In tandem with those successes, the commercial work that has taken place off the track has helped McLaren, in large part thanks to return of its papaya colors, develop one of the strongest brand identities in all of sports.
“Obviously, the on-track performance has been a great boost for that,” Dennington said. “You know, the other areas that have helped progress our fandom, and the sport, is the work that Liberty Media have done in the schedule.”
Liberty, an American mass media company, acquired Formula One Group from CVC Partners in 2017 for $4.4 billion. The popularity of the sport has skyrocketed since then thanks to huge engagement across media channels — including a certain Netflix show.
“More races, more races in the US, ‘Drive to Survive’ (on Netflix, and) we had the F1 movie,” Dennington said. “So there’s some great media platforms really driving the audience growth and the diversity of the audience.
“As a team, we’ve been pushing ourselves to be more sophisticated in the way in which we engage and communicate with our teams, but also looking at the partners we work with to give our fans the access to the McLaren brand and access to racing culture.”
The team’s portfolio now boasts more than 50 sponsors, among them Google, Mastercard and British American Tobacco. Dennington highlighted a number of campaigns that caught the public’s imagination.
“Some good examples of that is the work that we’ve done with Reiss and Abercrombie & Fitch — we bought our first women’s line of fashion through those organizations; the work we’re doing with Lego in capturing those sort of youth consumers into the brand; and also the work we’ve done with Tumi over the last few years in the luggage category.
“So we’re trying to extend the brand, we’re trying to create more access.”
In August, McLaren and Velo launched the “Live Your Fandom” campaign, offering nine superfans from the UK, Romania, the Czech Republic, Mexico and other places a “golden ticket” F1 experience in the form of a full day at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England.
The chosen fans enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour, shared their memories of the team directly with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, and took part in a surprise Q&A session with Norris.
One high-profile result of their special day was the graphical contributions they made to the team’s 2025 Abu Dhabi livery design, unveiled just days before Norris claimed the title, which featured art they helped create inspired by their most defining McLaren moments.
The livery features a series of bespoke images, including the “Papaya Family” representing the community spirit among McLaren F1 fans around the world; a “Forever Forward” friendship bracelet; and “Home Wins,” symbolizing the team’s victories this season in its home country at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is considered the team’s second home.
Other images celebrated the back-to-back constructors’ championship victories; 200 race wins; 50 top-two race finishes; and the fastest pitstop of the 2025 season (1.91 seconds).
Louise McEwen, McLaren Racing’s chief marketing officer, said: “Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this special livery is another way of showing our appreciation.
“Through the ‘Live Your Fandom’ campaign with Velo we’ve been able to celebrate their passion and creativity in a way that truly brings the Papaya Family together.”
Such efforts by McLaren to bring more fans even closer to the action will continue, Dennington said.
“Less than 1 percent of all fans in Formula One over their lifetime get to go to a race,” he added. “So I think it’s up to us as a sport, as teams, to be able to create more opportunities for them (and) to connect with our fans.”
As for the image and identity of the team moving forward, he had a reassuring message for fans: “Papaya’s not going anywhere and you’ll continue to see that into the future.”
