The Japan Sport Council (JSC) has revealed that building work at Tokyo’s new National Stadium is almost 90 per cent complete ahead of next summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in the city.
The JSC said the stadium (pictured in February), which will host the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events during Tokyo 2020, is scheduled to be finished in November. The stadium was opened to journalists for a media today (Wednesday).
Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that work is almost complete on the stadium’s exterior, with the grass set to be fitted later in the month before the running track is added in August and September.
An opening event has been scheduled for the general public on December 21. This will follow a completion ceremony that is planned for earlier in the month.
The stadium is initially set to feature 60,000 seats – 45,000 of which have already been fitted – with its capacity to be expanded to 68,000 post-Games. The stadium features an innovative wooden roof structure, which has been built using material from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
Construction work commenced on the stadium in December 2016, with the venue being built on the site of the old National Stadium, which hosted the 1964 Olympics. The stadium is one of eight new venues being constructed for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Next year’s Olympics are scheduled to run from July 24 to August 9, with the Paralympics to follow from August 25 to September 6.
Image: Tokyo 2020
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