Tokyo 2020: Venues will be smoke-free

The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced that smoking will not be permitted at any of the Olympic or Paralympic venues for the duration of the Games. The ban will be extended to heated tobacco products and other vaping devices.

At the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games, smoking was not permitted inside indoor competition venues, but smoking areas were provided around these.

Tokyo 2020 has decided to adopt a stricter non-smoking policy to protect the health and safety of athletes, spectators and officials and will ban smoking in indoor venues, outdoor venues and in venues’ secure perimeters operated by Tokyo 2020.

This is a similar policy to that enacted during at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games. Tokyo 2020 aims to leave a legacy of improved public health for the country at large.

An amendment to Japan’s Health Promotion Law will be fully enacted on 1 April 2020, together with Tokyo’s new regulations to reduce the incidence of passive smoking.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will take place between 25 August and 6 September and will feature 4,400 athletes competing in 22 sports across 540 medal events.

Badminton and taekwondo will be the two sports making their Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

More details of the venues are available on Tokyo 2020’s official website.