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Tokyo Olympics Latest Updates: Check out the latest news and updates as Tokyo prepares to host the Olympics. On Tuesday, the 15-member Indian shooting team departed for Zagreb for a training-cum-competition tour in that country. From there they will directly fly to Tokyo for the Olympics. With just 73 days to go concerns over Japan’s rising Covid-19 cases has prompted IOC President Thomas Bach to cancel his trip to Japan, which was originally scheduled for May 17 and 18. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said last week that the trip would be “tough” for Bach to make, which was interpreted in Japan as meaning it was cancelled.
Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori has doubts about whether the IOC and local organizers are doing enough to plan for a worst-case scenario of “hundreds” or “thousands” of coronavirus cases at the Tokyo Olympics. Or whether it’s even still feasible to hold the games when a state of emergency has been extended in Tokyo and other parts of Japan because of the pandemic.
“I don’t know what they are thinking, and I don’t know how much they are thinking about how they are going to make a bubble, because this is not 100 people like these tournaments,” Nishikori said after winning his first-round match at the Italian Open on Monday.
Here a few images from the various test events held in Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju told Indian sportspersons that they should not break Covid-19 protocols of foreign countries while travelling for training or competition.
Cases on the rise?
Eighteen people have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease outside of hospitals in Japan's Osaka Prefecture, officials said, amid calls for tougher restrictions on movement to halt a fourth wave of infections ahead of the Olympics.
All but one of the deaths occurred since March 1 as highly infectious strains of the virus caused a spike in new cases, the prefecture reported late on Monday for the first time.
The action is underway at the Tokyo Olympics test events...
The Ariake Gymnastics Centre is looking good! 🤸🇯🇵
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) May 11, 2021
The @Japan_Olympic rhythmic gymnastic team, along with seven others from the Tokyo Faculty of Physical Education For Women, were at the facility as part of a test event before #Tokyo2020@gymnastics #ReadySteadyTokyo pic.twitter.com/j5qQcvigbg
A 15-member Indian shooting contingent left for Croatia, where they will train and take part in competitions, as preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
The shooting team will then leave for Tokyo from Croatia on June 17, a week ahead of the Olympic Games.
With a "Bharat Mata ki Jay" we get ready to depart for Croatia. From there straight to #Tokyo2020 Olympics. 80 days in total. The Indian Shooting team needs your blessings to give their best.@KirenRijiju pic.twitter.com/mJg1jnEeqJ
— Suma Shirur OLY (@SumaShirur) May 11, 2021
People who are against the Tokyo Olympics marched around Tokyo's National Stadium during an anti-Olympics demonstration on Sunday.
IOC president Thomas Bach's visit to Japan, which was originally scheduled for May 17 and 18, has been pushed back to June, local media reported.
Sources told Japanese newspaper Nikkei that Bach will visit Japan for the first time since last November after the current state of emergency is lifted at the end of May,
Bach had planned to participate in an Olympic torch relay event in Hiroshima on May 17 and meet Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga the following day, but the worsening Covid-19 situation in Japan has made the visit impossible.
Whitewashed Australia
Australian basketball star Liz Cambage withdrew a threat to boycott the Tokyo Olympics over "whitewashed" team photoshoots, but vowed to remain outspoken on social justice issues.
"HOW AM I MEANT TO REPRESENT A COUNTRY THAT DOESNT EVEN REPRESENT ME #whitewashedaustralia," Cambage posted on Instagram, concluding "until I see you doing more @ausolympicteam imma sit this one out".
Naomi Osaka confessed that she is not sure if the Toyko Olympics should go ahead as planned with the coronavirus pandemic still ragging around the world.
The Olympic torch at the Yoshinogari Historical Park.
The Olympic flame passed through the picturesque Yoshinogari Historical Park, an archaeological site dating back to the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, which is located in the city of Kanzaki in Saga Prefecture.#OlympicTorchRelay #HopeLightsOurWay
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) May 10, 2021
Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee insist the games, which were already postponed by a year, will open as planned on July 23. “I know you still have two, three more months. It’s tough to really say right now,” Nishikori said, adding that he thought organizers should “hold” on making a decision for now.
Second-ranked Naomi Osaka sounded conflicted about the games’ status. “Of course I would say I want the Olympics to happen, because I’m an athlete and that’s sort of what I’ve been waiting for my entire life,” Osaka said. “A lot of unexpected things have happened and if it’s putting people at risk, and if it’s making people very uncomfortable, then it definitely should be a discussion, which I think it is as of right now.”
Serena Williams suggested she won’t go to Japan if coronavirus protocols mean she can’t bring her 3-year-old daughter with her. “I haven’t spent 24 hours without her, so that kind of answers the question itself,” Williams said. “There is this pandemic and there is so much to think about.”
Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori has doubts about whether the IOC and local organizers are doing enough to plan for a worst-case scenario of “hundreds” or “thousands” of coronavirus cases at the Tokyo Olympics. Or whether it’s even still feasible to hold the games when a state of emergency has been extended in Tokyo and other parts of Japan because of the pandemic. “I don’t know what they are thinking, and I don’t know how much they are thinking about how they are going to make a bubble, because this is not 100 people like these tournaments,” Nishikori said after winning his first-round match at the Italian Open on Monday. “It’s 10,000 people in the village. So I don’t think it’s easy, especially what’s happening right now in Japan. It’s not doing good. Well, not even (just) Japan. You have to think all over the world right now.”
