TOKYO – Seated inside Tokyo's new $1.4 billion National Stadium, Sebastian Coe again tried to reassure athletes and skeptical residents of Japan that the postponed Olympics will be safe when they open in just under 11 weeks.
An IOC member and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Coe heads track and field's world governing body World Athletics, which ran a test event on Sunday with 420 athletes — only nine of whom entered from outside Japan to compete.
The Olympics and Paralympics will draw 15,000 athletes and tens of thousands of officials, judges, media and broadcasters. They will enter a country that has essentially had its borders sealed for more than a year. “I recognize that nine athletes coming for a test event is very different from