Olympic Torch Relay Continues; Flame to Be Collected in Athens, Taken to Japan

A plane departed Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Wednesday to collect the Olympic flame from Athens following the International Olympic Committee's announcement on Tuesday of its intention to proceed with the 2020 Tokyo Games as planned. 

Per Tom Dutton of the Evening Standard, the plane left Japan without its intended delegation of officials, which was set to include organising committee president Yoshiro Mori and Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto, amid concerns over the outbreak of COVID-19.

However, Olympic officials who arrived in Greece last week will bring the flame back with them to Japan after the nation's ambassador to Greece is given it in a handover ceremony.

The Olympic flame was lit last Thursday by Anna Korakaki, who won gold for Greece at Rio 2016 in the 25-metre pistol shooting event:

However, the torch relay had to be cancelled the following day because the crowds gathering to watch it were too large.

Per CNN, there have been over 198,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with a death toll exceeding 7,900.

On Tuesday, the same day UEFA announced the 2020 European Championship will be postponed until 2021, the IOC and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirmed their commitment to hosting the Games as scheduled on July 24:

Four-time Olympic ice hockey gold medallist and IOC Athletes' Commission member Hayley Wickenheiser questioned the announcement amid the uncertainty caused by the pandemic:

Per Reuters' Rocky Swift and Linda Sieg, Japanese public broadcaster NHK has reported the country has had 29 deaths and a total of 868 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Those numbers do not include the passengers and staff of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined at Yokohama.

It's said Japan has the capacity to conduct 7,500 tests for the coronavirus per day, but it has carried out just 32,125 in total, an average of 1,190 per day over the last month.

The Olympic flame is scheduled to begin its journey around Japan on March 26, before it arrives at the opening ceremony on July 24.

Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said on Tuesday that anyone with symptoms of the coronavirus—such as a fever, cough or shortness of breath—should not attend the relay, but a limited number of spectators will be allowed along the roadside.