Tokyo (AFP)
Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Games unveiled Thursday to the press the Olympic Aquatic Center, which will accommodate 15,000 spectators when it is completed by the end of February.
This impressive building on the shores of Tokyo Bay will host swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events.
Thanks to a flexible wall, its main pool of 50 m can be converted into two separate pools of 25 m each. The depth of the pools will also be adjustable.
The cost of the building was estimated at 56.7 billion yen (more than 470 million euros). The city of Tokyo hopes to make it profitable over time, by organizing other aquatic events after the Games.
The organizers also Thursday presented the Ariake Arena, another 37 billion yen sports center that will host Olympic volleyball matches, as well as wheelchair basketball during the Paralympics.
The end of the construction of the Olympic stadium, Tokyo National Stadium, was also announced earlier this week.
This iconic Olympic stadium, which will cost 159 billion yen (1.3 billion euros), will be officially inaugurated on 21 December, at a gala event attended by Jamaican sprint legend Usain. Bolt, retired since 2017.
© 2019 AFP