Parsons (pictured top), who is also an International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board member, joins other members of the commission including International Olympic Committee (IOC) members Sir Craig Reedie of Britain, Switzerland's Patrick Baumann, Germany's Claudia Bokel, France's Guy Drut, Namibia's Frankie Fredericks and Thailand's Nat Indrapana.

"This is an amazing opportunity to participate in the selection process for the host of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that will succeed the Rio 2016 Games," Parsons said.

"I know that I will learn a lot and I hope to contribute to choosing the best host."

The Evaluation Commission is arriving in Tokyo today as part of the assessment programme for the Japanese capital.


Along with a group of experts, including David Stubbs, who was head of sustainability at London 2012, and Gilbert Felli, the IOC's Executive Director of the Olympic Games, they will perform a four-day inspection, which is due to officially start on Monday (March 4), and visit the sites intended for the Games should the city win.

They will then take part in evaluation visits to Madrid and Istanbul – the other two cities shortlisted in the bid race to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

Later this spring, the committee members will meet in Lausanne to prepare a report on the candidate cities for the voting members of the IOC.

The host city for the 2020 Games will be announced on September 7 in Buenos Aires.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

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