Olympics postponement is great news for athletes - Tokyo Governor

Yuriko Koike says the postponement of the Olympics is great news for athletes as they will be able to focus on a 'concrete goal now'.

SHOWS: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 24, 2020) (TV TOKYO - Broadcasters: NO USE JAPAN/ MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "TV TOKYO" WHEN VIDEO IS USED ON CABLE, COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE IN JAPAN BY CNN, CNNI, BBC WORLD, NBC & CNBC, Digital: NO USE JAPANESE WEBSITES) 1.

TOKYO GOVERNOR, YURIKO KOIKE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE 2.

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNOR, YURIKO KOIKE, SAYING: "There is a concrete goal now.

I think it's great there's now a specific timing (for the event to happen) for the athletes." 3.

KOIKE TAKING QUESTION FROM JOURNALIST 4.

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNOR, YURIKO KOIKE, SAYING: "We need to examine the things that will change now that the Games are postponed.

We need to secure meetings to discuss this with the government to decide on assigning the tasks involved." 5.

JAPANESE OLYMPICS MINISTER, SEIKO HASHIMOTO WALKING TOWARDS JOURNALISTS 6.

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE OLYMPICS MINISTER, SEIKO HASHIMOTO, SAYING: "It must have been really hard (for the athletes) to prepare for their best performance in a situation where they didn't know anything.

They must have faced a lot of hardships.

I'm grateful that we somewhat decided on the timing (for the Games)." 7.

HASHIMOTO TAKING QUESTIONS 8.

HASHIMOTO LEAVING STORY: Tokyo's Governor Yuriko Koike said that it was "great for the athletes" that they now had a specific time to aim for after it was confirmed on Tuesday (March 24) that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had been postponed until next year because of the threat of coronavirus.

Speaking to journalists in Tokyo, Japan's Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto added that "it must have been really hard (for the athletes) to prepare for their best performance in a situation where they didn't know anything." Production: (Akira Tomoshige, Akiko Okamoto, Mike Brock)