PM MODI TO INTERACT WITH TOKYO-BOUND ATHLETES ON 13 JULY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes virtually on July 13 at 5 pm.

The Prime Minister will motivate the athletes ahead of their participation in the showpiece event. According to an official statement, more than 115 Indian athletes have qualified so far for Tokyo Olympics which will begin on July 23 and will run up to August 8 this year. The Games were slated to be held last year, but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, it was announced that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators as there was a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the region. The decision of barring spectators was agreed on at a meeting attended by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach and representatives of the four bodies, the organizing committee, the International Paralympic Committee, as well as the Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments.

Earlier, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga made a decision to place Tokyo under the fourth state of emergency for the duration of the upcoming Olympics to curb a recent rise in COVID-19 cases. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, 117 Indian athletes had qualified but could not better the medals haul from the 2012 London Games, which remains India’s highest medal tally at a single Olympic Games — six medals. Indian athletes would be hoping to break that threshold in Tokyo.