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A plane departed Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Wednesday to collect the Olympic flame from Athens following the International Olympic Committee's announcement on Tuesday of its intention to proceed with the 2020 Tokyo Games as planned.
Per Tom Dutton of the Evening Standard, the plane left Japan without its intended delegation of officials, which was set to include organising committee president Yoshiro Mori and Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto, amid concerns over the outbreak of COVID-19.
However, Olympic officials who arrived in Greece last week will bring the flame back with them to Japan after the nation's ambassador to Greece is given it in a handover ceremony.