THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 30, 2020 at 19:14 JST
In this Sept. 27, 1977, file photo, Miyako Tanaka, right, and Mikako Kotani perform during women's synchronized swimming duet competition at the Olympic Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul. (AP Photo)
The organizing committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has named Mikako Kotani as its new sports director. She takes over the position on Thursday.
Kotani won two bronze medals in synchronized swimming--now called artistic swimming--at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
She replaces Koji Murofushi, who is becoming Japan’s Sports Agency commissioner, a position in the Japanese government.
The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee is headed by 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister.
Kotani is also a member of the executive board of the Japanese Olympic Committee and one of the few women in a sports leadership position in Japan.
The cabinet of new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has only two women among its 20 members.
The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic until next year. Organizers are adamant that it will take place but have offered few details about exactly how it will happen.
Hammer champ Murofushi picked to head Japan Sports Agency
September 11, 2020
Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July 23-Aug. 8 in 2021
March 31, 2020
Japan sets sights on starting Tokyo Olympics on July 23, 2021
March 29, 2020
Battle brews over who pays extra costs of postponed Tokyo Olympics
March 31, 2020
OLYMPICS/ If Tokyo Games not possible, 1-2 year delay realistic, organizing member says
March 11, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
