The Tokyo Olympic Torch Relay, set in Gifu Prefecture, ended its two-day schedule on the 4th with a commemorative ceremony held in Gifu City after celebrities related to Gifu acted as runners.
The torch relay in Gifu Prefecture, which first started in the Tokai and Hokuriku regions, traveled to a total of six cities and towns in the prefecture on the 4th of the second day.
Of these, in Gifu City, the torch torch was temporarily moved to a lantern on the night of the 4th, and was carried by ropeway to the vicinity of the mountaintop where Gifu Castle, which was the residence of Nobunaga Oda, is located.
From there, Kazuhiro Wada, who was born in Gifu City and was active in professional baseball Chunichi, and Hideaki Ito, an actor who played Takamasa Saito, the son of Dosan Saito in the taiga drama "Kirin ga Kuru", relayed. And delivered the holy fire to the castle tower.
After that, the torch relay went around the city from the plaza in front of JR Gifu station while the rain was getting stronger, and Naoko Takahashi, a gold medalist of the Sydney Olympics women's marathon from Gifu city, ran through the bridge over the Nagara River.
A commemorative ceremony was held at the park in the city, and Ikue Teshigawara, a former Olympic athlete from Gifu City who was the final runner and a former Olympic athlete of skating short track, arrived, and the schedule for two days was after 8:30 pm It's all done.
Naoko Takahashi, who finished the run, said, "I ran with gratitude again for being supported by many people in the place where I was born and raised. Athletes all over the world are still working hard toward the Olympics without extinguishing the flames. I understand that, so I would like to support that feeling. "
The torch relay will travel around Aichi Prefecture from the 5th.