KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) yesterday launched the ‘100 Days to Tokyo’ countdown to boost the national athletes’ fighting spirit in the run-up to the Olympics 2020 scheduled to begin this July.
During the event held at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil, minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican also flagged off five participants of the Road to Tokyo 2020 tour programme which aimed to garner support from the people across the country.
The tour programme is set to finish in Bukit Jalil in a ceremony to hand over the Jalur Gemilang to the national contingent to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games, in early July.
“This is not to put pressure on our athletes, not at all. When we decide to launch the 100 days countdown, we only want to highlight three things to all Malaysian athletes.
“Firstly, all of you are not alone in the Olympics journey. Secondly, to fulfil the hope, dreams and prayers of the people and thirdly, to cheer for the athletes,” he said at the launching ceremony here, today.
Also present were the Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria and Paralympic Council of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shariman Zaharudin.
NSC director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, Malaysian contingent’s chef de mission (CDM) for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 Datuk Lee Chong Wei and national athletes were also present.
At the same time, Reezal Merican also launched the kontinjenmalaysia.my official website which will be the medium for current updates and platform to garner support and views from the people for the athletes.
Meanwhile, #DEMIMALAYSIA was chosen as the slogan and rallying call to motivate athletes towards Tokyo 2020 and the Road to Tokyo (RTT) QR Code was also activated at the event to monitor the distribution of RTT 2020 supporters.
To date, 12 athletes have successfully qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games while 23 athletes under the RTT programme are still undergoing the qualification process, to be held until June.
Ten para-athletes have also qualified for the Paralympic Games in August, while 14 athletes are still under the qualification process.
Sponsors trying to wow audiences
With slightly more than three months left until this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, sponsor companies are deploying state-of-art technologies to entertain game viewers across the world, seeking to overcome restrictions related to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Amid the virus crisis, the Tokyo Games organising committee has decided not to allow spectators from abroad for the games. Restrictions on domestic fans are also expected, reported Jiji Press.
On Tuesday, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp recorded an event for the Osaka leg of the Olympic torch relay held at the Expo’70 Commemorative Park in Suita in the western Japan prefecture from multiple angles.
It shared the videos of the event for people to watch on their smartphones on a trial basis.
The company plans to offer such services for other events in the future.
“I want people to enjoy watching videos that make them feel like they are at the venues,” an NTT official said.
NTT Docomo Inc, the mobile phone arm of NTT, has set up base stations for 5G next-generation wireless networks preferentially around Tokyo Games venues, aiming to promote the ultrahigh-speed communications technology.
NTT Docomo has been considering offering 5G-based services during the Tokyo Games period.
But it has been difficult for the company to proceed with plans, as no decision has yet been made on whether to allow domestic spectators, according to a person related to the company.
The other two major domestic mobile phone carriers, KDDI Corp and SoftBank Corp, have also reinforced their 5G base stations, even though they are not sponsoring the Tokyo Games.
Toyota Motor Corp’s e-Palette autonomous electric vehicles are set to be used to transport athletes and officials at the athletes’ village.
NEC Corp plans to offer its facial recognition system for use at the athletes’ village and media centres to help ensure smooth operations.
