Fifty-four-year-old Mikako Kotani, who won two artistic swimming Olympic bronze medals for Japan in Seoul in 1988, has been appointed as the new sports director for the Tokyo Olympics, announced the organizing committee on Tuesday.

Twenty-two years ago, Kotani became the first female flag bearer in Japanese Olympic history. After that, she was named ambassador of Japan's bidding teams for the Winter Olympics in 1998 (in Nagano) and Summer Olympics in 2020 (in Tokyo).

Kotani is also a member of the executive board of the Japanese Olympic Committee. "As Sports Director, I am very honored and humbled to be able to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games from a sporting perspective and the perspective of an Olympian," said Kotani in a statement.

"We will work hard to overcome the unprecedented challenge the world is facing, and help athletes perform to their best in a new kind of Games. By furthering deepening communications with athletes as well as the understanding and friendship with international federations that Sports Director Murofushi has built, I will do my best to contribute to the success of these historic Games."

Kotani will officially take over from Koji Murofushi on Thursday. Murofushi, instead, will join the Japanese government to become the country's Sports Agency commissioner.

The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been different voices on whether the top sports event should be held next year, though Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is determined to make it happen in 2021.

According to The Japan Times, a survey showed on Wednesday that 58.5 percent of adults in the country want the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to be held with limited numbers of spectators to reduce coronavirus risks. While 15.6 percent said the event should not be held, 11.0 percent said it should be held without spectators.