400 National Olympic Committee representatives gather in Tokyo for the Chefs de Mission Seminar

400 representatives from National Olympic Committees around the world including the Chef de Missions of participating countries to next year’s Olympic games are gathering in Tokyo this week for the Chefs de Mission Seminar hosted by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Fiji’s Chef de Mission Patrick Bower says the Olympics is another story and although it is not going to be a huge contingent for Fiji like the Samoa Pacific Games, the qualification and logistics are at another level.

Bower says Tokyo has not left anything to the last minute.

He adds they have thought the subject through, they have prepared the venues and have added a bonus with the provision of three cities in Japan as an opportunity for athletes to prepare ahead of the games, something that was not offered in Rio in 2016.

Bower says the trial run at the airport was very successful and the team is well prepared with managing the various scenarios that could take place adding the Organizing Committee is even talking to the airlines to see if contingents can be checked‑through from the games village prior to their departure.

In 2016, the Fiji 7s team created history as they won Fiji’s first ever gold medal at the Olympics.

The team has qualified for the 2020 Olympics in July where they will attempt to defend their title.

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