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July 13, 2021Gaffe by Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, on his first public appearance in Tokyo after three days of quarantine for compliance with anti-Covid measures. During his speech, Bach stumbled upon words referring to the "Chinese people" rather than the "Japanese people". 



"Our common goal is safe and protected Games for all; for the athletes, for all the delegations and, above all, also for the Chinese ... the Japanese," said the IOC number one, quickly correcting the error. The gaffe was not reported, at the time, by the interpreters in charge of translating the speech from English into Japanese. However, it did not escape the Japanese media, which promptly reported it. And on social networks, unmissable, criticism has rained down.




IOC · バ ッ ハ 会長 「わ れ わ れ の 共通 の 目的 は, 万人 に 対 し, 安心 安全 な 大会 を 実 施 す る こ と で す. ア ス リ ー ト の た め, 各国 選手 団 の た め, そ し て 何 よ り 大事 な の が, チ ャ イ ニ ー ズ ピ ー プ ... ジ ャ パ ニ ー ズ ピ ー プ ルの た め で す 」pic.twitter.com/jBIkRYBoft

- FNN プ ラ イ ム オ ン ラ イ ン (@FNN_News) July 13, 2021



Bach then complimented the organizing committee for the work done, "even more remarkable in the difficult circumstances we all face".

"There are 10 days to go before the opening ceremony and we still have a lot of things to do," he said.



Today the Olympic Village was officially inaugurated and will host 11,000 athletes from all over the world, without any ceremony or special events due to the renewed state of emergency in Tokyo and the restrictions for the health emergency.

Not even the media could follow the opening of the Village. 



The @ Tokyo2020 Olympic Village officially opened today, with 10 days to go to the Games, to welcome the world's best athletes.



Residents will follow strict COVID-19 countermeasures and at least 85 per cent of them will have been vaccinated upon arrival.https: //t.co/5Xi95b0WEz

- IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) July 13, 2021



Meanwhile, the White House has announced that first lady Jill Biden will lead the delegation of US athletes to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo on July 23. It is the first lady's second trip abroad, after the one to Europe, last June. It will not be the first time that Jill Biden has participated in the Games in an official position. When Joe Biden was vice president, she and her husband led the United States delegation to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. The Olympic Games this year have no audience due to the ongoing pandemic in many countries around the world.