Category Archives: Tokyo Olympic Games 2020

Tokyo Olympics athletes warned not to use 160,000 free condoms

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  • Organisers say condoms are souvenirs to take home
  • Competitors must ‘avoid unnecessary forms’ of contact

The organisers of the 2020 Olympics have repeatedly vowed to put on a “safe and secure” Games during the coronavirus pandemic. But safe sex – or anything approaching intimacy for that matter – will be forbidden for athletes competing in Tokyo.

The International Olympic Committee this week repeated demands that residents of the Olympic village must observe social distancing guidelines to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19, threatening rule-breakers with a range of penalties, including fines, disqualification or even deportation.

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South Korea-Japan ties sour amid fresh military drills near disputed islands

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Meeting of leaders at G7 reportedly cancelled over Seoul’s decision to stage exercises around Dokdo islands, which are also claimed by Tokyo

South Korea has begun annual military drills near a pair of remote islands that are also claimed by Japan, as the long-running territorial dispute threatened to sour preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.

The exercises near the Dokdo islands – referred to as Takeshima in Japan – began days after a meeting between the countries’ leaders on the sidelines of the Cornwall G7 summit was reportedly cancelled due to Japanese objections to the exercises.

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‘Claims could run into billions’: the interests at stake if Olympics in Japan were cancelled

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IOC officials have avoided any mention of the commercial forces driving the Tokyo Games towards their 23 July opening date

The least divisive statement in the saga surrounding Tokyo 2020 – assuming, as many people now do, that it will happen in just over 40 days’ time – is that it will be an Olympics like no other.

Overseas fans have been banned; athletes will spend what for many will be the pinnacle of their career sealed off from the outside world; GPS-tracked journalists hoping to escape their hotel rooms for a late-night fix of ramen risk being put on the next flight home.

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Ryan Lochte: ‘I was headed to a dark, dark place’

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The second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history became a global symbol of privilege in Rio en route to rock bottom. Now the 36-year-old father of two will try to reach a fifth Games

It’s been a roller-coaster five years for Ryan Lochte, even accounting for the ample fluctuations of a celebrity athlete whose nearly two decades in the public eye have been defined by in-water excellence measured against self-sabotage out of it. The second-most decorated men’s swimmer in Olympic history has married and become a father of two. He’s also been branded as a global symbol of privilege after an eponymous Rio Olympics scandal where he lied about being robbed at gunpoint, served two lengthy suspensions and admitted himself to rehab for alcohol addiction after one TMZ headline too many. Peaks and troughs, as they say.

Yet through all the tumult, Lochte has never meaningfully wavered in his goal of swimming in a fifth Olympics. And when the US swimming trials begin on Friday in Omaha, the 36-year-old will attempt to make it a reality. His best chance is expected to come on Sunday night in the 200m individual medley, the event where he set a world record nearly a decade ago that stands today. Should he earn a spot on the US team for Tokyo, he will become the oldest American male swimmer to ever compete at an Olympics.

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Tokyo Olympics: local fans may need to show vaccination proof or negative Covid test

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Games authorities are relying on Japan’s spectators to provide atmosphere but are now in a race against time to inoculate population

Sports fans in Japan could be allowed to attend Olympic events in Tokyo this summer if they have proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test, a newspaper reported on Monday.

While many athletes are expected to have been fully vaccinated by late July, poor planning and staff shortages mean most Japanese citizens will still be waiting for a jab when the Olympics begin in less than two months’ time.

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Tokyo Olympics: anger in Japan at IOC call to make ‘sacrifices’

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Senior Games figures John Coates and Thomas Bach criticised for attitude amid calls for event to be cancelled

The International Olympic Committee’s insistence that “sacrifices” must be made to ensure the Games go ahead in Tokyo regardless of the coronavirus situation in Japan has sparked a backlash and more calls for them to be cancelled.

John Coates, an IOC vice president, drew criticism in Japan after saying the Games would proceed even if the host city was still under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus. “The answer is absolutely yes,” Coates, who is overseeing preparations, said when asked on Friday if he thought they could be delivered despite the restrictions.

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Could the Tokyo Olympics still be cancelled? – video explainer

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The Tokyo Olympics are due to begin on 23 July, but calls for the Games to be cancelled are growing due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in Japan. The Guardian's Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, looks at the current state of play. 

A recent spike in coronavirus cases has caused many prefectures to enter a state of emergency, including Tokyo. Japan has been reporting nearly 7,000 daily cases and the surge has put pressure on the country’s healthcare system, with the rollout of its vaccination programme slower than anticipated.

Organisers says tough anti-virus measures, including regular testing of athletes and a ban on overseas fans, will keep the delayed Games safe, but a new poll indicates more than 80% of Japanese people oppose hosting the Olympics this year. In addition, some elite athletes including tennis star Naomi Osaka have expressed their own concerns.

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Tokyo Olympics: more than 80% of Japanese oppose hosting Games – poll

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Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency on Friday as the nation battles a fourth wave of Covid infections

More than 80% of Japanese oppose hosting the Olympics this year, a new poll published on Monday showed, with just under 10 weeks until the Tokyo Games.

The latest survey comes after Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency Friday as the nation battles a fourth wave of virus infections.

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Tokyo Olympics: poll shows 60% of Japanese people want Games cancelled

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  • Limited public support amid surge in Covid-19 cases in Tokyo
  • Time for discussion about staging Games is now, says Naomi Osaka

Preparations for Tokyo Olympics have suffered another setback after a poll found that nearly 60% of people in Japan want them to be cancelled, less than three months before the Games are due to open.

Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and several other regions until the end of May as it struggles to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by new, more contagious variants, with medical staff warning that health services in some areas are on the verge of collapse.

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Japan to declare state of emergency in Tokyo amid pre-Olympics Covid surge

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Fourth coronavirus wave hits densely populated parts of country as experts say mutant strains driving latest outbreak

Japan is poised to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and two other regions amid a surge in coronavirus cases just three months before the start of the Olympic Games.

Domestic media said the government was considering tougher measures for Tokyo, Osaka prefecture and neighbouring Hyogo prefecture, as experts warned that mutant strains of the virus were driving new outbreaks and straining health services.

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Tokyo 2021: Olympic chief to visit Japan to approve safety amid Covid cases surge

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Thomas Bach expected to give Japan the all-clear to host the Games, as PM secures extra vaccine doses from Pfizer to fight new virus wave

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The head of the Olympic movement will visit Japan in May as the nation struggles to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases before the start of the Games, with Pfizer agreeing to supply extra vaccine doses to the country.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, will attend a torch relay ceremony in the western city of Hiroshima on 17 May and meet prime minister Yoshihide Suga the next day, Kyodo News agency said on Saturday, citing sources close to the matter.

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‘Cancel the Olympics’: fashion outcry as Canada brings back jean jackets for Tokyo

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  • Denim outfits welcomed with mix of outrage and delight
  • Designers say uniforms reflect Tokyo’s street art and fashion

For sports fans, there are many reasons to be thankful that the Tokyo Olympics look like they will take place – a year late – despite concerns about coronavirus: the chance to see supreme athletes compete at the highest level, an opportunity to deliver your definitive opinion on the Montenegro water polo team and marvel at the proxy superpower struggle at the top of the medal table. But the biggest treat of all could happen on the final night of the Games when the Canadian team walk out for the closing ceremony.

The athletes will be clad in graffiti-splashed denim jackets that would have been very current at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona or on Degrassi Junior High at its peak, but haven’t quite passed muster among 21st-century critics on social media.

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100 days to Tokyo: Pessimism and fear remain in Japan as Games loom | Justin McCurry

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Despite feelgood golf and swimming stories the local opinion on the Covid-delayed Games is that they should not happen

When Hideki Matsuyama sank the putt that won the Masters on Sunday, he not only made history by becoming the first Japanese man to win a major golf title – he gave the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics rare cause for celebration.

Days earlier his compatriot Rikako Ikee secured a place at the rescheduled 2020 Games in the 100m butterfly less than eight months after she had recovered from leukaemia.

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‘I’m not a little girl anymore’: Simone Biles on world domination, pandemic ennui and staying on for Paris 2024

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Much has changed since America’s greatest athlete set Rio aflame, but one familiar constant endures: her only competition is herself

So much has changed in the five years since Simone Biles lit up the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, affirming her presumptive status as the greatest gymnast ever with four gold medals in seven days.

The 24-year-old from suburban Houston moved out of her parents’ house into her own digs, adopted two French Bulldog puppies (Lilo and Rambo) and went public with boyfriend Jonathan Owens, a safety for the NFL’s Houston Texans. She enlisted the husband-and-wife coaching team of Laurent Landi and Cecile Canqueteau-Landi following an amicable split with longtime personal coach Aimee Boorman. The sport she’s come to define was rocked by the worst sexual abuse scandal in American sports history. And her bid for a historic second straight Olympic all-around title was waylaid by a global pandemic that turned the sports world on its ear.

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North Korea pulls out of Tokyo Olympics, citing coronavirus fears

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With the Games just months away, the regime’s sports ministry says it wants to protect athletes from the ‘global health crisis’

North Korea’s sports ministry said on Tuesday that it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics this year to protect its athletes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was made at a meeting of North Korea’s Olympic committee, including its sports minister Kim Il guk, on 25 March the ministry said on its website, called Joson Sports. “The committee decided not to join the 32nd Olympics Games to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus,” it said.

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Olympic surfing hopeful Katherine Diaz killed by lightning while training

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  • Twenty-two year-old killed near home in El Salvador
  • Diaz was preparing for ISA World Surf Games

El Salvador’s top surfer, who had been preparing fo the sport’s Olympic debut this summer, has been struck and killed by lightning during a training session.

“A great athlete who has represented our country has left us,” the Salvadoran Surf Federation said in a post paying tribute to Katherine Diaz on social media. “See you soon, great warrior. El Salvador is in mourning.”

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Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organisers confirm overseas fan ban

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Overseas spectators will not be permitted to attend this summer’s rearranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. An announcement was made after a meeting of the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Tokyo metropolitan government, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and the government of Japan on Saturday.

The decision, which was not unexpected, is due to continuing uncertainty amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with international travel restricted and variant coronavirus strains emerging. Japan is unlikely to be open to foreign tourists by the summer and it was felt some clarification over this matter should be given now.

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Tokyo Games: ceremonies chief to quit over sexist ‘Olympig’ comment

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Hiroshi Sasaki suggested a female entertainer should dress as a pig at the opening ceremony

Preparations for the Tokyo Olympics have again been thrown into turmoil after the creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies said he would resign over a sexist comment about a female entertainer, whom he likened to a pig.

Hiroshi Sasaki said he would step down after a weekly magazine revealed he had proposed to his creative team that Naomi Watanabe, a popular celebrity, should be lowered into the Olympic stadium dressed as a pig in an opening ceremony segment he called “Olympig”.

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Tokyo 2020: Japan’s Olympics minister in line to lead committee

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Officials hope selection of Seiko Hashimoto will draw line under row over predecessor’s sexist remarks

Japan’s Olympics minister, Seiko Hashimoto, is in line to lead the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, just over five months before the delayed Games are due to open, according to media reports.

The committee, which is already battling public opposition to the Olympics because of the Covid-19 pandemic, was forced to search for a new president after its previous head, Yoshiro Mori, resigned last week after making derogatory remarks about women.

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Threat to Olympic torch relay as Japan starts vaccination rollout

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The Games are due to begin in July but Shimane prefecture says it might pull out of the prestigious pre-Games event

The head of a prefecture in Japan has said the area is considering pulling out of the Olympic torch relay, as the nation became the latest major economy to begin its vaccine rollout.

Tatsuya Maruyama, the governor of Shimane prefecture, said on Wednesday that it could withdraw from the key Olympic event and has called for the Tokyo 2020 Games to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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