Koji Murofushi, the 2004 Olympic and 2011 world hammer champion, has been appointed commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency, the government said Friday.

The 45-year-old will succeed retired swimmer Daichi Suzuki when the inaugural commissioner of the government department steps down from his position at the completion of his contract at the end of the month.

Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee sports director Koji Murofushi, the 2004 Olympic hammer-throw gold medal winner, speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on June 16, 2020, following a meeting with Japanese sports governing bodies on preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus during the games to be held the following year. (Kyodo)

Murofushi, the son of a Romanian mother and Japanese father, also serves as sports director of the 2020 Tokyo Games, acting as a liaison between athletes, international sports federations and the organizing committee.

Murofushi will face unprecedented challenges in legacy planning during his tenure because of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games' one-year coronavirus pandemic postponement.

The Japan Sports Agency was created by the Japanese government in October 2015 by expanding the Sports and Youth Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology into an external bureau.