Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics: Prepare to be Amazed

The most important competition in world sports, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is scheduled to be held in Japan next summer. This is the second time Japan will host the games, 56 years after the Olympics were first held there. In doing so, Tokyo has become the only Asian city to ever host two Summer Olympics.
Visitors can expect an unforgettable sports experience that will be broadcast to billions of viewers around the world.

So what do the Japanese have in store for us?
With less than a year until the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games kick off, preparations in Japan are in full swing. From robot-like mascots that are generating interest on social media, through a special Instagram filter, to the biggest surprise of all: The 5,000 medals for which athletes will compete will be pressed out of 80,000 tons of electronic waste collected from across the country.

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games kick off, preparations in Japan are in full swing.

According to the organizers, the Olympics in the Japanese capital will be the most innovative ever and will be based on three principles: unity and acceptance, achievement, and passing on the legacy to future generations.
But that’s not all. Unlike in previous years, the 2020 competition will also include extreme sports events, such as surfing, skateboarding, and mountain climbing. In addition, two disciplines – softball and baseball – have been reintroduced, and karate has also been added to the list. The games will be held across 16 days, with the opening ceremony taking place on July 24 and the closing ceremony planned for August 9. The Paralympic Games will be held from August 25 to September 6.

Those who prefer to see the action up close and will be attending the games this July, will be treated to a host of entertainment and sporting events on top of the stunning tourist attractions in Tokyo and its surroundings. On the other hand, the 11,000 athletes who will attend 339 events in 33 sports will be in an Olympic stadium that can hold approximately 70,000 spectators and will host the games’ opening and closing ceremonies.
Those planning to visit Tokyo at this time of year should book their flights, hotel and hostel rooms, and rented vehicles as soon as possible, especially if you plan to land at Narita International Airport or Haneda Airport, and even more so if you plan to attend any of the games to be held at the Olympic Park.
By the way, not all games will be held in Tokyo. The handball games, for example, will be held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium; the soccer tournament will be held in the cities of Sandy and Sapporo, and other games will be held at Olympic facilities in the Ariake area, the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo Metropolis and more.

A golden opportunity for Israel
Israel began competing in the Olympic Games in 1952, and has participated in 16 games to date. Israel may be a relatively young country that notes international successes such as Nobel Prize wins, multi-million dollar high-tech deals, innovations in green energy, and an impressive representation of actors and models worldwide, including hosting the Eurovision Song Contest several times, but when it comes to sports we are less fortunate, to say the least. In the last 24 years, Israeli athletes have won only nine medals in three sports out of 33 disciplines: five in Judo, three in windsurfing, and one in kayaking thanks to Michael Klagenfurt.

Tokyo has become the only Asian city to ever host two Summer Olympics & Visitors can expect an unforgettable sports experience.

So who could take their place on the podium when Israel competes in the Olympics for the 17th time? As of now, 17 athletes, including seven women, have secured their spot on the national Olympic team in athletics, shooting, cycling, swimming, and sailing.
Igal Carmi, president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, who has already received the team’s official invitation to the games, said, “The goal of the Israeli delegation is to win at least two Olympic medals in Tokyo. We look forward to having the biggest delegation of all time with 50 athletes.”
In athletics, Israel will be represented by four athletes: Marhu Teferi, who finished eighth in the Seville Marathon in Spain, and his wife Selamawit Beyulin-Teferi, who set an Israeli record in Kortrijk, Belgium; as well as Prag Girma Amare and distance runner Lonah Chemtai-Salpeter, who met the Olympic criterion for the 10,000 meters’ event and set a new Israeli record at the European Cup competition last July.

In shooting, Sergey Richter secured his place in the Israeli delegation after winning a gold medal at the European Games in Minsk earlier this year.

In riding, four Israeli equestrian show jumpers will make their debut Olympic performance in Tokyo, including Daniel Bluman, Ashley Bond, Elad Yaniv, and Danielle Goldstein, who topped a criterion competition held last June in Moscow.
Since Eitan Orbach’s participation in the Olympics, swimming has gained an aura of glamor and it is not for nothing that Israel is sending four swimmers to the Olympics: Miron Heruti, who secured his participation in the 50 meters freestyle heat; Yaakov Tomarkin, who improved on the Olympic A criterion in the 100 meters’ backstroke by five milliseconds, and Anastasia Gorbenko, who secured her place in the 200 meters’ individual medley thanks to a particularly impressive 2-millisecond Olympic Criterion A result in Marseille, France.

Olympic Games tickets are available exclusively on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games official website.

Israel’s relay swim team will also take part in the competition: Anastasia Gorbenko, Itay Goldfaden, Tomer Frankel, and Andrea Morz will compete in the 4×100 medley relay; and Denis Loktev, Daniel Namir, Tomer Frankel and Gal Cohen Grumy will compete in the 4×200 freestyle relay. Participation in the team relay events is conditional on at least two swimmers from each foursome competing in one of the individual heats.

In sailing, four delegates have secured their place in the games: Gil Cohen and Noa Lesri, who will take part in a 470 sailboat competition, after finishing 11th in the world competition in Aarhus, Denmark. Windsurfers Maya Morris and Ofek Elimelech will also participate with the Neil Pryde X:RS model.

Olympic Games tickets are available exclusively on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games official website and through regulated agencies in the country of origin, such as tokyo2020.org
However, only on June 14 will those who enter the ticket lottery know if they will be among the lucky ones to enter the upscale stadium. The reason for this lies with a new Japanese law that prohibits ticket scalping. By the way, ticket prices are determined by the popularity of the sport, so the most expensive ticket offered for sale will cost about $2,500, while the cheapest tickets (for children and pensioners) will cost only $18.