Olympics-IOC's Bach draws ire in Japan over long opening ceremony speech

[ASFN Admin]

For a Games billed as the most inclusive and diverse on record, one element of Friday's opening ceremony stood out for many Japanese: Olympic boss Thomas Bach spoke for 13 minutes, about twice as long as his Japanese female host, Seiko Hashimoto. Bach's speech, which drew on familiar themes of peace, solidarity and gratitude for overcoming the coronavirus hardships, immediately drew ire on Twitter and in traditional Japanese media. "From tomorrow, we'll give Bach the nickname 'the guy who gives long speeches'," said user @Riko_Murai in a tweet reposted 7,730 times and liked by more than 20,000 people.

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