New Tokyo Olympics chief Seiko Hashimoto.Credit:AP
Hashimoto is one of only two women serving in Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s 21-member cabinet. The former winter speed skater and summer track cyclist has been Olympics Minister since 2019 and also holds the women’s empowerment and gender equality portfolios. In 2000,she set a precedent by becoming the first MP to receive maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter.
“I submitted my resignation as Olympics minister to the Prime Minister as I was chosen as candidate for Tokyo Olympics committee chief,” Hashimoto told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
She added that Suga had encouraged her to make the Games successful but declined to say anything further until after a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting later in the day,when an official announcement on the post was likely to be made,Reuters reported.
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Her resume was a decisive factor in her appointment after the Olympics committee said the key criteria for the new boss would include a “profound knowledge” of the Olympic movement and a“deep understanding” of key principles including gender equity.
She also said she deeply regretted her behaviour from seven years ago,when she faced scrutiny over reports she had made unwanted advances towards a sportsman during the Sochi Olympics.