Team GB recognises Tokyo 2020 with ‘This is What Makes Us’ Campaign
July 31, 2020
Last week marked the ‘one year to go’ countdown to the start of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, following the historic postponement of the event due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Olympic flame remains burning in Japan, after arriving in the host nation earlier this year with the Opening Ceremony set for July 23, 2021.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach believes the Games will be the symbol of hope for the world, as the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic continues, stating: “This milestone of the one year to go is a very significant one, for sport but also for the worldwide society. It can and will be the great comeback festival of sport to the international scene and we are preparing for this in the one year that remains for us to make these Olympic games a real great festival of hope, of resilience and of solidarity.
Team Great Britain (GB) marked the milestone with a new spot as part of its ‘This is What Makes Us’ campaign, celebrating Tokyo as a symbol of unity and togetherness. Entitled 'Dear Tokyo', the open letter to the Japanese seeks to bring the nation, and the world, together ahead of the Games.
Narrated by double Olympic taekwondo medallist Lutalo Muhammad, 'Dear Tokyo' acknowledges challenges faced by the Tokyo Organising Committee and nods to the 1964 Games, also hosted in Tokyo, which were the first to be hosted in Asia. The new spot recalls how those games symbolised peace and diversity, and comments that next year’s edition will be ‘a beacon of hope to the world’ as well as a celebration of unity.
Coinciding with a year to go, ‘I Am Team GB’ also launched, which is a campaign to encourage Great Britain to be more physically active. In the absence of being able to get together to exercise in their communities, the team invites the UK to keep moving at home, with athletes and influencers setting simple, fun challenges for everyone to take part in.
Cyclist Laura Kenny, sport climber Shauna Coxsey and boxer Cheavon Clarke are all taking part alongside Team GB legends like Greg Rutherford and influencer Laura Crane. The campaign will come to life across Team GB’s social channels including a hashtag challenge on TikTok.
Commenting on the Olympic Games next year, Team GB Chief Executive, Andy Anson, said: “It is against a very different backdrop that we are celebrating another year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games…The athletes have the power to unite the nation and will undoubtedly give everyone something to look forward to again in Tokyo next summer.”