Tokyo Olympics organisers to add 12 female board members

Tokyo: The Tokyo Olympics organising committee nominated 12 women to its executive board in an effort to “restore trust” after former president Yoshiro Mori’s sexist remarks.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told reporters on Tuesday after an executive board meeting that the total female board members will be increased to 19 from the current seven, accounting for about 40 per cent from 20 per cent, Xinhua news reports.

The total number of board members will rise to 45 from the current 34.

Muto did not disclose the details of the 12 women, adding they will be officially approved at the executive board meeting on Wednesday.

Several Japanese news outlets reported that Sydney Olympic marathon gold medallist Naoko Takahashi and two-time Paralympic alpine skiing champion Kuniko Obinata are among the 12 nominees.

Seiko Hashimoto, who took over as the new Tokyo 2020 president on February 19, said prior to the day’s meeting that “we need to deal with the issue quickly to restore the trust in the organising committee and to produce results.”