Tokyo 2020 Games on track after turmoil, say organisers

Rio de Janeiro: Tokyo`s first woman governor will carry on her predecessor`s push to make the city`s 2020 Summer Games the ``most innovative`` in history, the head of the Games` organising committee said on Wednesday. 

Yuriko Koike, Japan`s first female defence minister, was elected governor on Sunday after two predecessors stepped down over scandals that clouded the city`s preparations to host the Games.
The head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee Yoshiro Mori had called the timing of the latest resignation unfortunate, saying it was ``as if one wheel has come off`` ahead of the high-stakes event.

But speaking at the IOC meeting in Rio on Wednesday, Mori, a former prime minister, welcomed Koike, who will be responsible for saving Tokyo`s reputation as host for the Games.
``She is a powerful woman with a lot of executive capability,`` Mori said in translated comments, adding he is sure the Games will be a success under her watch.

Japan hopes the Olympics will spur its economy, which is struggling to escape decades of deflation.
On Wednesday, they got a boost when the IOC selected five sports, including baseball, skateboarding and surfing, to feature in the Tokyo Games in an attempt to attract a younger audience. 
``I am so happy and so thrilled and I my have lost some of my composure,`` Mori said. ``This was an epoch-making decision today.``