Olympics: Women's soccer champions being eyed to open Japan torch relay

The organizing committee of next summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is considering members of Nadeshiko Japan, the champions of soccer's 2011 Women's World Cup, as candidates to open the domestic leg of the Olympic torch relay, sources close to the matter said Friday.The members of the team, captained by Homare Sawa, are regarded as a good fit for the role, the sources said. Nadeshiko Japan won the quadrennial tournament in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan and the subsequent nuclear disaster.Organizers have dubbed the 2020 Tokyo Games …READ FULL ARTICLE