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IOC head says Olympic reforms bearing early fruit

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Saturday a swathe of reforms aimed at streamlining Olympic tournaments and keeping costs in check were bearing early fruit, after Tokyo 2020 organizers unveiled changes to their plans designed to save more than $1 billion.

Last year in Monaco, the IOC passed 40 recommendations comprising their Olympic Agenda 2020, a roadmap for future Games and for the Olympic Movement.

Bach told a news conference following the IOC's executive board meeting assessing preparations for next year's Rio Games that the measures agreed "are really becoming effective, bearing fruit already".

"I think this is the best evidence (of the need) for implementation of the Olympic Agenda 2020," said Bach, welcoming Tokyo's announcement Friday of three venue changes as it seeks to lop as much as a reported $1.7 billion off 2020 spending.

Using some facilities outside Tokyo -- the basketball is set to move to an existing stadium at Saitama an hour away -- will mean the tournament is less compact than as submitted in the initial bid, which indicated 80 percent of events would be held up to eight kilometers (five miles) from the Olympic village.

But Bach said the proposals would keep the Games compact while "still putting athletes at the heart of the Games".

Rising labor and construction costs have also prompted the Japanese to cut plans for new sites for canoe slalom -- moving a short disatance from a park to allay environmental concerns -- and equestrian events, to be hosted at Baji Park, a venue used in the 1964 Tokyo Games.