May 17 2021 The Tokyo Olympic torch began to pass in Hiroshima on the 17th, but because of the severe situation of the pandemic, the road relay was canceled, all torchbearers gathered in the park, closed the door to complete the relay.
The relay was held at the Peace Memorial Park near the site of the 1945 atomic bombing. In the absence of spectators, torchbearers stood in a line about 5 meters apart, lighting the torch in turn in front of a small number of friends and family, the media and the organizing committee.
The day’s best-known torchbearer was Kim Fujili, who won gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Hiroshima, who was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, said: “It would have been a great opportunity for everyone to feel closer to the Olympics by passing the torch on public roads, but unfortunately it was cancelled.” ”
Still, she said there was a “special feeling” of being able to stand in the Peace Memorial Park and pass the flame, because it was a symbol of peace.
The younger brother of Yoshihiko Sakai, who lit the main torch at the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, also took part in the torch relay. Yoshii, who was born on the day of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and was a survivor of the disaster, died in 2014.
The Olympic torch relay in Hiroshima was supposed to be a high priority for the Tokyo Organizing Committee, which planned to invite IOC President Thomas Bach to participate in the torch relay in Hiroshima before the Games were postponed last year. In addition to inviting a number of torchbearers and the history of the atomic bombing related to the background of the day’s torchbearers also chose the building that survived the atomic bombing – the atomic bomb dome, can be seen the special intentions of the organizing committee.
In order to induce Japan to surrender as soon as possible, the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, making it the first city in the world to be hit by an atomic bomb. However, some analysts point out that Japan has long portrayed itself as a “victim” of a nuclear explosion, with little mention of the historical context of the atomic bombing.
Hiroshima Prefecture, which is severely affected by the outbreak, has been under a state of emergency since the 14th. Several torchbearers, including a 104-year-old atomic bomb survivor, withdrew from the day’s relay because of the outbreak.
