The sun was first. Then, the wind and rain.
After being delayed by the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics are now open under the oppressive heat. A typhoon is expected to arrive Tuesday morning and disrupt at least some of the Games.
Andrew Knewstubb, a New Zealand rugby sevens player, said that it felt like they were trying to prepare for everything.
Japanese hosts assure that the incoming storm is a low-grade tropical storm in U.S. terms. Tsurigasaki beach surfers believe that Tropical Storm Nepartak could improve competition, provided it doesn’t directly hit the beach.
However, archery rowing, sailing and rowing have already modified their Tuesday schedules. Masa Takaya, spokesperson for Tokyo Games, stated that no other changes were expected.
Takaya stated that it was a tropical storm with three grades out of five. She shouldn’t be worried, but it is still a typhoon according to Japan interpretation. This is the weakest category but it is still a Typhoon so we shouldn’t be too optimistic about its impact.
The competitors are looking for a change in the weather, so long as it doesn’t bring down the wind and rain. They will be located about 90 miles east from Tokyo. Low tide caused Monday’s surfing competition to be delayed. However, if the storm strikes as predicted, waves could be twice as high as anticipated.
Kurt Korte (official Olympic surfing forecaster) said, “As a homeowner, I say, “Oh no, stay away!” “But, as a surfer, I say, ‘OK. You can form if your stay out there.’ Everyone can agree that a storm in the distance is the best.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Nepartak was heading northwest over the Pacific Ocean east Japan on Monday. Landfall is expected Tuesday afternoon. Strong winds could cause the storm to bring heavy rains and waves across Japan’s northeastern regions. It could drop as much as 5.9 inches (150 m) in height.
Weather conditions caused organizers to make the first major changes to the Olympic archery schedule. Beijing Games 2008 saw a delay of one hour. The Tuesday afternoon sessions at the Beijing Games 2008 were delayed by an hour.
Jack Williams, an American archer, said that he heard the storm could be rain or wind up to 80 mph.
Brady Ellison, his teammate, added: “Unless there is lightning, right now, we’ll shot it. We will deal with whatever it is. The rain just begins to sucking in general.
Beach volleyball can be played in any weather condition, except lightning. Heavy rain was the weather conditions for both the Rio Games’ women’s and men’s finals.
Ariake Tennis Park’s center court has a retractable roofing that can be closed in case of inclement weather. However, play on the outer courts would need to be suspended.
Daniil Medvedev (No. 2) said, “They can move any match, I think. If there is really going be a storm with rain.” The world’s No. 2 player. “We don’t know. They might try to move six matches but that depends on how long they last.
From the beginning of the Games, any type of rain, whether it is a tropical storm, typhoon or light sprinkling, will cause a wild swing.
Svetlana Gombova collapsed due to heatstroke but she was able to recover and win the silver medal. Medvedev and Novak Djokovic, the top-seeded players, complained that their first round match in archery was “somewhat the worst”. They successfully called the International Tennis Federation, which gave Olympic players more time to recover from the heat.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had resorted to shoving bags of ice up her skirt, and fiddled with a tube blowing cold air next to her seat. Skateboarding was a heat-streak. The intense sun radiated off the concrete with such blinding effects that skaters complained it was making their boards more difficult to control and softening their rubber joints.
July and August are hot and humid in Japan. Japan was criticised for not accurately describing the severity of the heat and instead called it mild and ideal during the bidding process.
Daytime highs reach 95 degrees (35 Celsius), but in some areas have reached 104 degrees (40 Celsius). Heatstroke alerts were first issued by the Environment Ministry in July 2020 in Tokyo and April in the whole country.
Japan saw 112 deaths between June and September 2013 and 64,869 heat-related patients admitted to hospital by ambulance. The highest number of heatstroke victims was 5,836 in Tokyo over the three-month period.
Jessica Fox, an Australian canoeist, is the gold medal favourite in the kayak slalom. She described it as “like a bath.” It is like paddling in the bathwater.
What about the impending typhoon disruptions?
Fox stated, “I’m a little concerned about that.” “I saw the surfers, and they were all excited by the weather, which isn’t ideal for us.”
Canada’s team is concerned that if Tuesday’s bronze-medal softball game is delayed, it could be stuck in Japan as members flew the next day.
Coach Mark Smith stated, “We hope the game goes (Tuesday), so that we can board a plane and get home,” “As you know, flights are difficult to find due to the pandemic.”
Weather extremes are another hurdle Olympic organizers have had to face during these beleaguered Games. Already delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were already delayed by another year. Takaya was asked Monday if Tokyo officials felt they couldn’t catch a break.
He said, “I mean, you understand, we’re supposed react to any circumstance, that’s one our jobs.” “This is a routine exercise that we must face.”