Organising committee head Yoshiro Mori called it a "heartbreaking decision" to cancel a performance of 140 children at the handover ceremony in Athens. The announcement comes after organisers said they may have to scale back the torch relay and limit spectators because of concerns over spreading the deadly COVID-19. "A performance by 140 children was scheduled at the handover ceremony in Athens on the 19th (of March), but we'll put utmost priority on the safety of children and cancel their trip," Mori told reporters.

The Olympic flame is set to arrive in Japan on March 20 but about 200 children will also have to miss the welcoming ceremony in Miyagi prefecture. The torch will then embark on a nationwide relay starting in Fukushima, a disaster zone just nine years ago after an earthquake-triggered tsunami swamped a nuclear plant and sent its reactors into meltdown.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020