<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hailed the completion of the National Stadium built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Sunday, his speech at the Kengo Kuma-designed venue praising the efforts to finish on schedule after an early setback.</p>.<p>The stadium, built at a cost of 156.9 billion yen ($1.44 billion), will have a capacity of 68,000 when it hosts the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 24.</p>.<p>It will stage athletics and soccer events at the Games as well as the closing ceremony.</p>.<p>During his speech, Abe referred to the challenges organisers faced when the original design was scrapped because of a public outcry over spiralling costs.</p>.<p>The change meant construction did not begin until December 2016 and the stadium was unable to host matches at this year's Rugby World Cup as originally planned.</p>.<p>“For this National Stadium, which will be the symbol of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, I assume there must have been many difficulties for the process of its construction,” said Abe.</p>.<p>"The design was changed during the process.</p>.<p>“It is purely the result of everyone’s ‘All Japan’ contribution and hard work, so that we finally celebrate today.”</p>.<p>Sunday’s ceremony was restricted to a small number of officials and the first public event will be on Dec. 21.</p>.<p>The Emperor’s Cup soccer final will be the first sporting contest to be staged there on New Year’s Day.</p>.<p>“We have to make next year’s Tokyo Games an opportunity to share dreams and hopes, to create a proud legacy, show Japan’s power to the world, and open up the future of this country,” said Abe.</p>.<p>The 2020 Olympics run from July 24 to Aug. 9.</p>
<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hailed the completion of the National Stadium built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Sunday, his speech at the Kengo Kuma-designed venue praising the efforts to finish on schedule after an early setback.</p>.<p>The stadium, built at a cost of 156.9 billion yen ($1.44 billion), will have a capacity of 68,000 when it hosts the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 24.</p>.<p>It will stage athletics and soccer events at the Games as well as the closing ceremony.</p>.<p>During his speech, Abe referred to the challenges organisers faced when the original design was scrapped because of a public outcry over spiralling costs.</p>.<p>The change meant construction did not begin until December 2016 and the stadium was unable to host matches at this year's Rugby World Cup as originally planned.</p>.<p>“For this National Stadium, which will be the symbol of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, I assume there must have been many difficulties for the process of its construction,” said Abe.</p>.<p>"The design was changed during the process.</p>.<p>“It is purely the result of everyone’s ‘All Japan’ contribution and hard work, so that we finally celebrate today.”</p>.<p>Sunday’s ceremony was restricted to a small number of officials and the first public event will be on Dec. 21.</p>.<p>The Emperor’s Cup soccer final will be the first sporting contest to be staged there on New Year’s Day.</p>.<p>“We have to make next year’s Tokyo Games an opportunity to share dreams and hopes, to create a proud legacy, show Japan’s power to the world, and open up the future of this country,” said Abe.</p>.<p>The 2020 Olympics run from July 24 to Aug. 9.</p>