Forget Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Phelps: the stars of the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan won’t even be human. Instead they’ll be robots – at least if Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe gets his wish
Not content with simply staging the biggest sporting event on earth in six years’ time, Abe wants his country to spice things up by kicking off a fully fledged ‘Robot Olympics’.
‘In 2020, I would like to gather all of the world’s robots and aim to hold an Olympics where they compete in technical skills,’ he said.
The mooted event would be a showcase for the cutting edge of robotic technology – an industry in which Japan has long led the way.
It forms part of Abe’s wider plan to help revitalise his country’s economy by claiming a greater share of the robotic industry.
“We want to make robots a major pillar of our economic growth strategy,” he said. “We would like to set up a council on making a robotic revolution a reality in order to aid Japan’s growth.”
Abe announced his plans during visits to robotics factories in Tokyo and Saitama.
