Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Tuesday to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics an exceptional event for the world’s top athletes, as his government eyes a haul of 30 golds.
Ministers are preparing to set up an agency to boost resources for Japanese athletes, with an eye on nearly doubling the previous gold total, reports and officials said.
“As the host country Japan must take it upon itself to help the top athletes from around the world perform their best,” Abe told a special cabinet meeting on the Olympic preparations.
The premier pitched for Tokyo’s bid when the International Olympic Committee met in Buenos Aires on Saturday and chose the Japanese capital over Madrid and Istanbul as the 2020 Olympic host.
“It (Tokyo 2020) will also be a golden opportunity for Japan to show the world how it has recovered from the Great East Japan Earthquake,” he added, referring to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and sparked meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant.