Tokyo 2020: Cost of the postponement

Tokyo, Japan (November 29, 2020) – The Tokyo Games organizing committee estimates that the one-year postponement of the Olympics and Paralympics will drive up the total price tag by some 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion), several sources revealed today.

The organizing committee, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and Japanese government are planning to decide in December how much of the burden each will shoulder after discussing the added cost of implementing measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus at the games next summer.

Additional costs are expected to include expenses related to securing games’ venues, equipment rental and storage fees, and expenditures on labor.

After the decision was made in March to postpone the games for one year due to the global coronavirus outbreak, it was expected the delay would cost up to approximately 300 billion yen extra ($2.9 billion).

The Tokyo Games organizing committee has since striven to simplify the games and cut spending wherever possible to make the cost of holding the Olympics and Paralympics palatable to the Japanese public.

Last month, organizers announced that their simplified plan will save an estimated 30 billion yen ($288 million) after agreeing with the International Olympic Committee on 52 areas that could be streamlined.

Those items included scrapping team welcome ceremonies, reviewing the use of temporary overlay structures, reviewing the number of support vehicles used for the torch relay and reducing services to allow for a reduction in staff numbers.

The games were expected to cost around 1.35 trillion yen ($13 billion) before they were postponed in March, just four months before the Olympic opening ceremony was slated to be held in the Japanese capital.

Of that cost, the organizing committee was planning to cover 603 billion yen, the Tokyo metropolitan government 597 billion yen and the central government the remaining 150 billion yen.

Source: Kyodo News

Tokyo Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020
Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021

Details: https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/