Olympics
TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS UNDER THREAT!
BY MIKE ROWBOTTOM
A total of 11 people died and 5,664 people were taken to hospitals in Japan due to heat-related medical issues last week when temperatures rose sharply following the end of the rainy season in most areas, the Japanese Government revealed.
The latest figures have been released at a time when Tokyo 2020 organisers and the Government’s Bureau of Environment are working on measures that can be taken to safeguard athletes, spectators and volunteers during next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.
At last week’s beach volleyball test event in Tokyo misting sprays and air-conditioned tents were among the features trialled in order to combat the effects of rising temperatures in the capital.
As temperatures rose to 38 centigrade, the 11 deaths were reported in 11 different areas among Japan’s 47 prefectures, Japanese agency Kyodo News reported.
Aichi Prefecture had the most people rushed to hospitals at 392, followed by Osaka Prefecture at 388 and Tokyo at 299.
The number of people sent to hospitals nearly tripled from 1,948 in the preceding week as the rainy season came to an end.
Those aged 65 and older accounted for 52.6 percent of the total in the week to last Sunday (July 28), according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Of the 5,664 people, 119 displayed severe symptoms that would normally require at least three weeks of treatment as an inpatient, while 1,792 suffered less serious issues, necessitating shorter stays.
As temperatures are likely to remain above the average in Japan in the upcoming week, the Agency urged people to stay hydrated and to take rest occasionally.
While the capital hosted its first Summer Games in the much-cooler month of October in 1964, next year’s competition featuring 33 sports and 339 events is due to take place between July 24 and Aug. 9.
Weather-related concerns have mounted since Tokyo was awarded the Games in 2013, especially after a historic heatwave affected Japan’s capital last summer, with an area near Tokyo seeing a record temperature of 41.1C.
Tokyo 2020 has admitted the threat posed by the extreme heat and typhoons is considered a “major issue” resulting in the shifting of start times of several events.
The men’s and women’s marathons were pushed back one hour to 6am and the men’s 50 kilometres race walk will commence at 5:30am.
The organisers are set to provide information about weather conditions and safety precautions through the official mobile app.
They are also considering allowing spectators to bring their own bottled drinks into event venues, a departure from previous Games at which sponsor and security considerations have made such a possibility a no-go.
“This is all aimed at making spectators feel as comfortable as possible, given they have come to see events in a very hot and humid environment,” Tokyo 2020 delivery officer Hidemasa Nakamura said last month.
He added that the measures taken would include a “specific focus on the elderly, children and international visitors”.
insidethegames has contacted Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee for comment on the latest heatwave casualty figures.
– insidethegames
Athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Games have raced through their free condom supply ahead of Valentine’s Day, leaving dispensers empty on Saturday, with more than a week of competition remaining.
According to a report by Reuters, organisers had distributed around 10,000 condoms across the city and mountain accommodation sites, continuing a long-standing Olympic tradition aimed at promoting safe relationships among competitors living in close quarters.
By Saturday, however, supplies had run out — adding Milan to a growing list of Olympic hosts where demand has comfortably exceeded expectations.
“Clearly, this shows Valentine’s Day is in full swing at the village,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference. “Ten thousand have been used — 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say.”
Adams added with a smile: “It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story. Faster, higher, stronger, together.”
Milano Cortina organisers later acknowledged that stocks had been depleted due to “higher-than-anticipated demand,” but assured that additional supplies were already on the way.
“Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all Villages between today and Monday,” organisers said in a statement. “They will be continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
The unexpected shortage also surprised some athletes.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo said he had only just heard about the situation. “I just saw that this morning. I was, like, shocked as everyone else,” he said.
Mialitiana Clerc, an alpine skier representing Madagascar, noted that boxes once placed at building entrances were quickly emptied.
“There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying, and every day, everything had gone from the boxes,” Clerc said. “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics, because it’s a kind of gift for them.”
While medals remain the official measure of achievement at the Games, the empty dispensers suggest that the social side of the Olympics is also proceeding at full pace.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday awarded a top state honour to an Olympic skeleton racer who was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, speaking to Vladyslav Heraskevych on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, said he had great respect for “all the Olympians who supported you and your position.”
“Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but it seems to me that the most important thing is who you are,” Zelenskiy said while presenting the racer with the Order of Freedom.
Heraskevych told the president the award was “huge” and that the athletes depicted on the helmet “deserve it even more. Because of their sacrifice, we can compete in the Olympics.”
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified at the Winter Games in Italy on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the helmet’s depiction of athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 breached rules on political neutrality.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his appeal on Friday.
Heraskevych told reporters after the award ceremony that his disqualification was discriminatory as he had not violated the Olympic Charter, a document he said he “really valued.”
“But at the same time, I understand that this scandal has united people around the world about our problem and about the sacrifice of these great athletes, and I believe this goal is much more important than any medal,” he said.
Speaking before the CAS hearing earlier in the day, Heraskevych said his exclusion and rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee were “an instrument of propaganda for Russia. I still receive a lot of threats from the Russian side.”
-Reuters
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Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters.
“No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up.
“I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
The IOC offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
The skeleton competition starts later on Thursday.
-Reuters
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