Tokyo 2020 five years on: a legacy in use across the city

Today marks five years since the Olympic flame was lit at the Japan National Stadium on 23 July 2021. Staged a year later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo 2020 delivered the Games for athletes and audiences worldwide, reaching a global broadcast audience of more than three billion people and setting digital engagement records at the time. Five years on, many of the Games' benefits remain visible across the city.

Venues in use across the city

All 33 permanent venues from Tokyo 2020 remain in use, with operators and legacy plans in place. Three longer-lifespan temporary venues also continue to serve sport and exhibitions.

The venues serve the city in different ways. At the top level, the Japan National Stadium hosts athletics, football, rugby and concerts, and staged the World Athletics Championships in 2025. Others are open to the public: the Tokyo Aquatics Centre offers recreational swimming alongside national competitions, and Ariake Urban Sports Park – built for the Olympic debuts of skateboarding and BMX freestyle – reopened in October 2024 as a multi-purpose sports zone with a skate park, 3x3 basketball court and bouldering wall. Some venues have taken on new roles, with the Ariake Gymnastics Centre now serving as an exhibition hall, while venues used at both of Tokyo's Olympic Games – including the Nippon Budokan and Yoyogi National Stadium – continue to host sporting and cultural events.

The Olympic Village becomes a new waterfront community

The former Olympic Village has become one of the clearest examples of Tokyo 2020’s urban development legacy.

Now known as Harumi Flag, the former Olympic and Paralympic Village has been transformed into a waterfront residential district through public-private collaboration. Its first residents moved in during January 2024, and new elementary and junior high schools opened in April 2024. The district provides around 5,650 homes and is expected to house approximately 12,000 people, with shops, parks, childcare and senior housing, and around 40 per cent of its area given over to green space.

The redevelopment forms part of the West Harumi 5-Chome District project, which was planned to convert the area used for the Games into a new waterfront community after Tokyo 2020. Alongside housing, the project includes commercial facilities, schools, public spaces, transport connections and a multi-mobility station designed to support movement between the waterfront area and the city centre.

Harumi Flag was designed as Japan's first hydrogen-powered district, with a hydrogen station and pipelines supplying energy to homes and common areas – an approach first demonstrated during the Games, when fuel-cell vehicles and buses served as official transport.

A city that continues to host sport

Tokyo’s continued hosting of major international events is another part of the Games’ legacy, showing how venues, operational experience and volunteer networks from Tokyo 2020 continue to support sport in the city.

In 2025, Tokyo hosted the World Athletics Championships at the Japan National Stadium and the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, in line with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Sports Legacy Vision. Both events formed part of Tokyo’s wider sports legacy strategy, which uses Games venues and experience to expand participation, promote Para sport and strengthen volunteering. The volunteering culture developed around the Games has also continued. Around 10,000 Tokyo 2020 volunteers registered with the Tokyo Volunteer Legacy Network, which connects them with sporting and cultural events in the capital. The Games’ human legacy also continues through the IOC’s dedicated Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Volunteers Community, which is also available in Japanese. The Games’ human legacy also continues through the IOC’s dedicated Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Volunteers Community, which is also available in Japanese.  

Tokyo continues to work towards making sport part of everyday life. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s latest sport plan, the sports participation rate among the city’s residents aged 18 and over stood at 67.5 per cent in 2025, with a target of 70 per cent by 2030.

Marking the anniversary

To celebrate the fifth anniversary, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, five metropolitan sports facilities and the Sumida River bridges are being illuminated in the five Olympic colours from 23 to 29 July. The anniversary programme also includes the Junior Sports Yell Project, which is sending Olympians from Tokyo 2020 to children's sports classes and competitions across the city throughout 2026, alongside providing support for young athletes and their families.

The anniversary programme will also launch a Barrier-Free Walking course, designed to make it easier for people with and without disabilities to enjoy walking in familiar surroundings. A dedicated app will provide accessible features for people with disabilities, while the course will incorporate elements of the Tokyo 2020 legacy, including sections of the Games’ competition routes and the Olympic cauldron. Walking events and promotional campaigns will encourage residents to take part. Marking the anniversary, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike reflected on what the Games have meant for the city and its residents.

Looking ahead: Tokyo opens the Olympic Q-Series

Tokyo's connection to the Olympic Games continues on the road to LA28. In May 2026, the IOC confirmed that Tokyo will host the opening stop of the expanded Olympic Q-Series in 2028 – a four-city qualification series also visiting Shanghai, Montreal and Orlando, featuring sports including 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, climbing and skateboarding.

The series opens in Tokyo as the city where those four sports made their Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. It will also build on the city’s continued use of Games venues, its experience hosting major international events, and the urban sports legacy developed through venues such as Ariake Urban Sports Park.

Seiko Hashimoto, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, highlighted what that legacy means for athletes and for the Olympic Movement going forward.

Five years on, Tokyo 2020’s legacy is not only visible in what remains from the Games, but in how the city continues to use it – from everyday life in Harumi to world-class sport and the road to LA28.