FILE PHOTO: International Olympic Committee chairman John Coates delivers a speech during a ceremony celebrating one year out from the start of the summer games in front of Tokyo Station in Tokyo, Japan July 24, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato
(Reuters) – The International Olympic Commission (IOC) has no plans to change its decision on moving next year’s Olympic marathon to the northern city of Sapporo, but a top IOC official said on Wednesday he did not want to leave Tokyo without a consensus on the move.
John Coates, the IOC’s Coordination Commission chief for the Tokyo Games, said at the start of a regular Coordination Commission meeting in Tokyo that he did not want to leave at the end of this week without gaining the people of Tokyo’s understanding about the move, made suddenly two weeks ago due to worries about Tokyo’s summer heat.
“We owe it to the people of Tokyo to make sure they are fully briefed,” Coates said.
Reporting by Chris Gallagher, writing by Elaine Lies, Editing by Catherine Evans