The Tokyo Olympics which were rescheduled for 2021 are set to kick off on Friday, July 23 through Sunday, August 8.
The 17-day series of games were postponed following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The event will mark the second time Japan’s capital has hosted the games since 1964.
More than 11,000 athletes are expected to participate in the games, which will be held across 42 competition venues in Japan’s capital.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) said new sporting events will be added this year including skateboarding, surfing, baseball, and karate.
According to TeenVogue, IOC and the Japanese government are determined to have ‘the show running’ and athletes from different parts of the world are already arriving –but with restrictions to remain confined in their hotel rooms.
The covid-19 situation in japan
The major concern in having the event go on across the world now is the Covid-19 pandemic and its positivity rate –with reported cases of new strains of that virus that mutate to resist or reduce vaccine protection.
Media reports indicate that Japan is still in an acute condition based on the current coronavirus infection rates.
The country is hit badly by COVID-19 this spring, following the spread of a troubling new strain dubbed “Eek”. Hospitals are about hitting capacity, forcing the government to have people be treated at home.
Japan is in its fourth wave of infections and as of May, the country’s positivity rate peaked at about 6,200 cases daily.
Spectating
Reports show that more than 80% of Japanese residents are in favor of the Olympics being postponed again or canceled altogether, with the majority of volunteers quitting the games.
Despite controversies in the accuracy of data revealed by the government and demonstrations to have the games postponed again or canceled altogether, the government IOC has set plans to reduce international spectators.
The games will be streamed across a mix of platforms, with NBC broadcasting the opening and closing ceremonies along with competitions.
Additional coverage can be found on NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app, and NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock (which has a free tier for Olympics coverage).
The Japanese government has said it will make a final decision about crowds and potential crowd capacities by around June 20, to give local spectators an overview on how to watch the events.
