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New Tokyo 2020 President, Seiko Hashimoto

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The newly announce Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games president, Seiko Hashimoto, has begun assembling her team and will exclude former president, Yoshiro Mori, from an official position.

Hashimoto, who was originally the Olympic minister for the Games, was chosen as Mori’s replacement after Mori resigned after making sexist comments during a Japanese Olympic Committee.

Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike, announced the appointment of Hashimoto, saying: “For Japan, it is possible to turn a pinch into an opportunity and start anew.”

Hashimoto competed in a record seven Olympic Games as both a speed skater and cyclist, before being named Olympics minister in September 2019 as a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Thomas Bach, said: “My heartfelt congratulations go to my fellow Olympian Hashimoto Seiko on her appointment as president of the Organising Committee Tokyo 2020.”

“With her great Olympic experience, having won a medal, participated in seven editions of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Winter Games, and having led Japan’s delegation to the Olympic Games multiple times, she is the perfect choice for this position.

“She will ensure that the focus in the final months of preparation remains on the athletes’ experience while planning all the necessary COVID-19 countermeasures.

“Seiko Hashimoto can draw on her rich political experience as a Minister and many other political functions.

“This will help to deliver safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 in partnership between the Organising Committee, the Government of Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the IOC.

“With the appointment of a woman as president, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee is also sending a very important signal with regard to gender equality, which is one of the topics we addressed in Olympic Agenda 2020, the reform programme for the IOC and the Olympic Movement.

“We stand ready to support the OCOG and other organisations in their desired aims within their spheres of responsibility,” Bach said.

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