From Tokyo 2016 Bid Committee

Naoko Takahashi, Tokyo 2016 Bid Support Runner, (right) with passionate Tokyo 2016 supporters Maki (left) and Yuki Otake. This mother-daughter team is hoping the Olympic Games come home to Tokyo so they can watch events in their neighborhood. (Photo: Photo Kishimoto)

TOKYO, June 22, 2009 - Tokyo 2016’s mission to unite people of all ages with sport and healthy living took a further step forward at the weekend with a 10km ‘Tokyo Bid Support Relay’ through the heart of Japan’s vibrant capital. The relay was led by 2000 Olympic champion women’s marathoner and Tokyo 2016 Bid Support Runner, Naoko Takahashi, who was joined by other elite athletes and Japanese sports enthusiasts ranging in age from 6 to 71.

The course united Tokyo’s enduring 1964 legacy with Tokyo 2016 and highlighted the unprecedented 100-year Olympic and Paralympic legacy promised by Tokyo 2016. The relay began at Kasumigaoka National Stadium – a legacy venue which served as the Olympic Stadium during 1964 Tokyo Games and helped to reunite Japan with the world – and finished in Tokyo’s Harumi waterfront area, the designated site of the 2016 Olympic Stadium, a solar-powered venue that will be surrounded by greenery.

Tokyo 2016’s venues plan makes maximum use of the city’s attractions and landmarks, mixing heritage with innovation. Led by an eco-friendly electric vehicle, the relay fittingly passed through several iconic sites, from the Imperial Palace through to the contemporary Ginza shopping district.

Joining Naoko Takahashi in giving their support to Tokyo 2016 at the event were three-time Olympic marathon-runner Kenji Kimihara, who won a silver medal at the 1968 Games in Mexico City; two-time Olympic footballer and 1968 medallist, Kunishige Kamamoto; Nordic Combined skier and 1998 Olympian Tsugiharu Ogiwara; 2009 Asian Youth Para Games wheelchair sprinter, Atsuro Kobata; former international footballer and coach and currently commentator, Yasutaro Matsuki;, Yasutaro Matsuki; Athens 2004 Olympic footballer, Naoko Kawakami; and 2009 Asian Youth Para Games sprinter Saki Takakuwa.

Also taking part in the event was a group of enthusiastic fun-runners – the lucky 19 winners of a public raffle open to Tokyo’s millions of passionate sports fans. The fun-runners split into groups, each joined by either one or two of the sporting heroes. Each group ran one of the relay’s seven stages before handing over to the next team.

Naoko Takahashi said: “I was delighted to run in the heart of vibrant Tokyo with these passionate runners today.

"Tokyo 2016 will be the most compact Olympic Games ever, with 97% of the venues located within an 8km radius. It is an ideal venue plan for athletes because so little time is required for transportation.

"This is an amazing course that I would love to run on if I were a Tokyo 2016 Olympian! It is also a spectator-friendly course because there are overlapping stretches, meaning that people will be able to see and cheer the runners more than once from certain places. I am sure that the Tokyo 2016 marathon will be full of excitement.

 "The Olympic Games are special because they create such lasting memories.

Through this relay today, I hope people will expand their awareness and  understanding of the Olympic Movement and the Tokyo 2016 Bid. In particular, I wish to help unite children with sport and further strengthen the role of sport in society.”

Dr Ichiro Kono, Chair and CEO of Tokyo 2016, said: “Passion for sport and for bringing the world’s greatest sports event to the heart of our vibrant city unites elite athletes with enthusiastic people of all ages in Tokyo and across Japan. The Tokyo Bid Support Relay reflects the support that Tokyo 2016 enjoys across all levels of Japanese society and shows what impact we can have connecting new generations with sport through the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

"It also helped to showcase another aspect of Tokyo 2016’s unique offering  to the world; the most compact and sustainable Games plan in history that will offer maximum comfort and convenience to athletes and spectators alike, and the maximum sports legacy for our city, our nation and importantly the entire Olympic Movement.”

Tokyo Bid Support Relay followed hot on the heels of Tokyo 2016’s  successful report to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 2016 Bidding Cities Briefing in Lausanne, Switzerland. The session saw the Bid showcase how it is setting the stage for heroes with an ultra-compact, sustainable and environmentally-friendly Olympic and Paralympic Games vision.

The second Tokyo Bid Support Relay with Naoko Takahashi will take place in  Tokyo on 12 July.

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