Road to Tokyo: Digital offers for Olympians mark one year to go

26 | 7 | 2019

Download your copy of 1964: The Greatest Year in Japan 

With one year to go a new book has brought to life the stories of Olympians at the Toyko 1964 Olympic Games. 

1964: The Greatest Year in Japan, written by Olympic historian Roy Tomizawa, is based on interviews with over 70 Olympians from 16 different nations.  

“Japan was a physical and psychological wasteland at the end of World War II. But in 1964, Japan stood proud – modern, peace-loving, open – welcoming the world as host of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the largest global event of its time.” said Tomizawa, who was a young boy at the time. 

The book recounts some of the seminal moments of the Games including: when the giant Dutchman Anton Geesink defeated the Japanese national champion, Akio Kaminaga, in judo; the moment the Japanese women’s volleyball team defeated the taller, stronger Soviet women’s team and when Britain’s Basil Heatley passed the Japanese runner, Kokichi Tsuburaya, in the final moments of the gruelling marathon in front of 70,000 people in the Olympic National Stadium, snatching silver from Tsuburaya’s grasp.  

But Tomizawa says what sticks out most is the wider impact the Games had on the country, the economy and the youth of Japan, when witness to the incredible sporting feats of Olympians. The sense of belief that anything was possible and the national pride that hosting the Games instilled in the country. 

Olympians can buy 1964: The Greatest Year in Japan at a discounted price of just USD 99 cents HERE - this offer is valid only till the end of July, so get in quick!  

Get your own Olympic sunglasses!   

For the first time ever, the famous Olympic Rings Sunglasses will be available as an effect on Instagram to celebrate #1YearToGo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Go to the Instagram profile pages of @olympics, @Tokyo2020 or @OlympicChannel to find the special edition filter in the effects tab and click ‘try it’, then take a video or snap a selfie wearing the sunglasses. Be sure to tag @Olympics and @Tokyo2020 and use the hashtag #1YearToGo when you post.  

But be quick – it’s only available for 17 days!  

Join the conversation

Share a #1YearToGo message of support on social media with fellow Olympians and organisers on why you can’t wait for Tokyo 2020 to arrive.  

Keep an eye out for a special video promoting Tokyo 2020 on all Olympic Movement platforms. We invite you to share it and spread the word one year out from the next edition of the sporting spectacular that is the Olympic Games. 

Make sure you tag @WorldOlympians on Twitter and @WorldOlympiansAssociation on Facebook and use the hashtags #Tokyo2020 and #1YearToGo.