Tokyo 2020 Olympics Spokesperson Masa Takaya G'07

Much like the rest of the sports world, the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan have been affected by COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. For only the fourth time in the history of the Olympics, the games will not go off as scheduled, with the Summer Olympics postponed until July 23, 2021. Takaya and his colleagues spent seven years securing the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games for Tokyo, only to have the Games be affected by this pandemic. Takaya, the communications director and official spokesperson for the Tokyo Organizing Committee, discusses how his time at Syracuse University shaped his career and the decision for organizers to postpone the Summer Olympics. He addresses how these games will convey a message to the world and the Japanese people about the importance of resiliency, recovery and hope for a country that nine years ago was devastated by a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.