IWAKI, Japan (Reuters) - Masao Hashimoto has dreamed of holding an Olympic torch since 1964, the first time Tokyo hosted the Olympics, when he ran behind the torch bearers. They will be runners on the first day of the Olympic Torch relay, postponed for a year along with the Summer Games - a delay unprecedented in Olympic history forced on organisers by the global pandemic. The four-month relay involves 10,000 runners and takes the torch across Japan's 47 prefectures. That's what I felt," Hashimoto told Reuters, describing his feelings when chosen more than a year ago to bear the torch in the city of Iwaki. "I have been hoping to do this as it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Arakawa told Reuters at her high school.

Source: The Star March 24, 2021 11:03 UTC