Olympics-Tokyo 2020 Games organizers receive Olympic flame

A perfomer stands next to the Olympic flame during the olympic flame handover ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, on March 19, 2020 in Athens. (AFP)

• The torch was received by Tokyo Games representative Naoko Imoto

ATHENS: Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games received the Olympic flame in a scaled-down handover ceremony in the Greek capital on Thursday, amid the coronavirus spread that has cast doubt on the July 24-Aug 9 global multi-billion dollar event.
In a brief ceremony closed to spectators in Athens’ Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Games in 1896, the torch was received by Tokyo Games representative Naoko Imoto. It will arrive in Japan on Friday and kick off a domestic relay on March 26.