Summary
The IOC approved the plan of cycling venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics including a series of venue changes for the games. The IOC said moving track cycling venues from Tokyo to Izu would save $1,8 billion in total. The international cycling union(UCI) had resisted the plan at first , saying Izu is far from Tokyo and Olympic experience for athletes and fans are decreased. But they eventually agreed to it. Olympic experience can be guaranteed from awide range of perspective. UCI president said this plan had embraced the cost cutting “Olympic Agenda 2020” . Cost-cutting, athlete experience, maximum use of existing venues, and the future development of cycling can be achieved by this plan, he said.
Opinion
I agreed to this plan. “Cost-cutting” is very important aspect for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We don’t have to be too particular about the places where games are held. Izu is not in Tokyo, and about 120km from Tokyo. But I don’t care whether the venues are exactly in Tokyo or not, and who care? The means of transportation have improved and we can easily come and go between those two places. Both convenience and cost-cutting can be achieved. If there are existing venues and post-games legacies, we should re-use those places. However good venue we construct for 2020 Olympic, it is unnecessary if the venues are not useful after Olympic. This plan is very future oriented, I think.