Tokyo 2020 Announces Initial Test Event Calendar

Tokyo, Oct 02, 2018: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) today announced the first part of its planned test event schedule (Test Event Calendar) that kicked off this autumn and will run until May 2020.

Approximately 50 test events will be held – some during scheduled international sporting events that happen to be taking place in Japan during the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Games, with others comprising dedicated Olympic and Paralympic test events organised by Tokyo 2020.

The test events will give organisers and the Japanese public the opportunity to experience sport in the Olympic venues and in some cases for the first time.

In addition to allowing Tokyo 2020 to get operational experience, some events will also let the Japanese public get a glimpse of the world’s best athletes in those disciplines, including potential Olympic and Paralympic Games competitors.

This will be an exciting chance for those thinking of coming to the Games to discover new sports and new heroes.

For Tokyo 2020, the objective of the test events will be to provide its management and operations staff with hands-on experience of running events and allow them to collaborate with delivery partners to ensure the smooth operation of the Games.

Test plans for each sport have drawn up and reviewed in close collaboration with the respective International Federations based on a needs assessment conducted for each sport.

The test events themselves will be operated using actual equipment, facilities and venues that will be deployed at the Tokyo 2020 Games/Test Event Calendar.

In addition, each functional area of Tokyo 2020 will test the technical operation of events focusing on three aspects: the field of play, technology and staff.

The experience gained will share as part of the organisation-wide learning pathway.

Fully supported by World Sailing and the local organising committee, the Sailing World Cup Series in Enoshima held in September 2018 served as a sailing test event for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

A water polo test event will held in October 2018.

The remainder of the test event calendar will implement in three waves, with the first set of test events focused on outdoor sports is holding between June and September 2019.

A second series of test events will hold from October 2019 to February 2020, with a final series taking place between March and May 2020, which will primarily focus on the confirmation of communication and reporting lines.

Please find details of the initial calendar of test events in the below appendix and at the Tokyo 2020 website (https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/sport/testevents/). Tokyo 2020 plans to update the calendar at the end of this year.