Getty/The Asahi Shimbun
- Thomas Bach gave a conference on the upcoming Tokyo Games on Tuesday.
- He was promising safe and secure games for Japanese citizens, but accidentally called them "Chinese people."
- He quickly corrected himself. Watch the video below.
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The president of the International Olympic Committee accidentally referred to Japanese citizens as Chinese at a Tuesday press conference.
Thomas Bach made the slip and corrected himself quickly while promising safety and security at the upcoming Tokyo Games.
Watch it here:
-Sky News (@SkyNews) July 13, 2021
"Our common target is safe and secure games for everybody; for the athletes, for all the delegations, and most importantly also for the Chinese people – Japanese people," Bach said.
It's not clear what prompted Bach's mistake. The Winter Olympics are due to take place in Beijing, China, in February 2022.
The Tokyo Games, which are due to start July 23, have been disrupted heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month authorities decided to bar spectators from nearly all venues amid a rise in infections in the Japanese capital.