Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), told Xinhua News Agency in an interview that he may get emotional enough to cry when the Olympic flame is lit at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.

"When the sacred flame is lit, I will be as emotional as all the athletes. I might cry with joy," said Yamashita who won multiple world titles of judo including men's open judo Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles in 1984.

Yamashita was elected as JOC president for the first time in 2019 and was re-elected in June. In the interview with Xinhua, he admitted that postponing the Tokyo Games by a year was the right and hard decision.

"We had no other choice. The pandemic is much worse than originally predicted. Every time we think that it's easing off, it turns serious again. And now we are entering a state of emergency for the fourth time. I think the most difficult thing is how to deal with the pandemic," said Yamashita.

Despite the delay, the Tokyo Olympics has been haunted by all kinds of trouble, most of which are related to coronavirus. From Olympic torch relay being removed from public roads in many places to over 90 percent of sessions having to happen behind closed doors, almost every step of the Games was accompanied with compromise.

"The COVID-19 situation has not changed for the better. This makes me worry all the time. Athletes from all over the world are coming to Japan. What I care about most is to ensure they have a good and safe environment," said Yamashita.

But he never even thought about cancelling the Olympics. "I had thought that we could hold the Games without spectators, but never thought about the cancellation. We will not only hold the Games in a safe and secure manner but also well contain the pandemic in Tokyo and other places of Japan so that the athletes can return home without being infected."

Yamashita used to be a great judo athlete but he only attended in one Olympic Games (in 1984). He was qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics but had to quit because of his country's boycott to that Games after Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

Therefore, Yamashita knows how much it means to an athlete to be able to participate in the Olympics.

"By postponing the Games, many athletes have missed the once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete at the Olympic Games. Even if you can compete in two or three Olympics, you usually have only one time to stay in peak shape during the Olympics," said Yamashita.

"Our athletes are very strong in both summer and winter events. I attended the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and look forward to visiting Beijing again next February. I think our athletes will achieve very good results in Beijing."

As a judo legend, Yamashita made great contributions to promoting the sport outside Japan. For example, he helped establish two judo schools in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province and Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

"I think Mr. Kano (Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo) would be very happy if he knew what I have done in China. Mr. Kano established a school in Tokyo that accepted thousands of Chinese students in early last century. He just wanted to do something for the Chinese students. I think that I have the same target as Mr. Kano," said Yamashita.

"China and Japan are neighbors with very long and deep ties in history. To maintain continued exchange among the people is beneficial to both sides. I am very confident and want to tell everybody. If Japan wants to be understood by China, it should try hard to understand China. I think that this is exactly the role that sports can play to promote the exchange between different countries."

(With input from Xinhua News Agency)