Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Seiko Hashimoto confirmed as new president

Japan's Seiko Hashimoto has been appointed as the new president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee in what has been called "a very important signal with regard to gender equality".

Hashimoto replaces 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, who resigned last week after making sexist remarks about women.

The 56-year-old had been serving as the minister for Olympics and Paralympics in the Japanese government.

Hashimoto has competed in seven summer and winter Olympic Games as a track cyclist and speed skater, winning a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games.

In a short speech to the committee, she reiterated the importance of reassuring the public, in Japan and abroad, of delivering a "safe and secure" Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said: "With the appointment of a woman as president, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee is also sending a very important signal with regard to gender equality, which is one of the topics we addressed in Olympic Agenda 2020, the reform programme for the IOC and the Olympic Movement."

Mori resigned last Friday after causing an international outcry by saying during a committee meeting that women talk too much, comments that a top Tokyo 2020 executive said on Thursday had caused "indescribable damage."

He initially defied calls to step down, but growing anger at his remarks and a petition drive led by a 22-year-old student and activist, among others, helped seal his fate even in a nation still struggling with gender equality.

Japan is ranked 121st out of 153 countries on the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Gender Gap Index - the worst ranking gap among advanced countries - scoring poorly on women's economic participation and political empowerment.

Criteria for a new leader for the organising committee included a deep understanding of gender equality and diversity, and the ability to attain those values during the Games, organisers have said.