TOKYO: Japan's northern Hokkaido region was supposed to offer cooler climes for next week's Olympic marathons and race walks, but now the area is battling a heatwave.
Olympic organisers moved the two events from Tokyo in 2019, worried that even shifting the start times to dawn would not be enough to keep athletes safe from the heat.The summer temperatures in Hokkaido's Sapporo were expected to be kinder - around five or six degrees Celsius cooler than Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said.
The mercury has surged even higher elsewhere in Hokkaido, with one town in the region becoming the first place in Japan this year to record temperatures over 38 degrees.The men's 20km race walk takes place in the region on Thursday, followed by the women's race and the marathons for men and women over the next few days.Heat has been a persistent concern for organisers, with a raft of counter-measures drawn up including misting stations and ice jackets.
In its bid for the Games, Tokyo argued that its summer included"many days of mild and sunny weather" and would offer"an ideal climate for athletes to perform their best", but many competitors and volunteers have struggled with the conditions.Tennis matches have now been pushed back until later in the day after multiple complaints, with Russian player Daniil Medvedev warning"I can die" as he sweated through one match.
He said 30 people involved with the Games have so far been treated for"heat illness", which organisers say is milder than heatstroke.While the Games have been held in places that are hotter or more humid than Tokyo, including Athens and Beijing, Japan's sweaty summers offer both, in an unpleasant and sometimes deadly combination.
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