TOKYO – The Tokyo Paralympic Games will be held mostly without spectators, as Japan’s capital remains under emergency lockdown amid a surge in novel coronavirus infections, local media reported on Friday.
Organisers agreed to limit spectators at the Paralympic events, set to begin on Aug. 24, similar to the Olympic Games which finished on Aug. 8 and was held mostly without spectators, the Yomiuri reported, citing Games sources.
Paralympic venues in Shizuoka, central Japan, will limit spectators to under 5,000 people, the newspaper said according to Reuters. Organisers are still considering inviting school children to events, it said.
. apan concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a record haul of 27 gold medals, far exceeding the previous high of 16 at the 2000 Athens Olympics.
Mitsugi Ogata, general manager for Japan’s national delegation, lauded the athletes, saying he was “happy we could deliver some uplifting news”.
There were concerns about the Games being written off as “unnecessary” amid a pandemic, but with the performances of the Japanese athletes, organisers “have gradually gained the understanding of the public”, he said at a news conference.
Japan’s total medal tally stands at 58, also a record and more than the previous high of 37 medals at Athens.
That includes medals in surfing and climbing and a gold for Tokyo local Yuto Horigome in skateboarding – all three among sports that made their Olympics debut in Tokyo.
Japan also steadily clocked up medals in judo, with Uta and Hifumi Abe becoming the first siblings in Olympic history to win gold medals on the same day.
Initial projections by data company Gracenote had pegged Japan’s expected medal haul this year at 60.
Japan also faced some big disappointments as tennis star and top medal contender Naomi Osaka got knocked out in the third round of the competition, a few days after she lit the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony.
Also in golf, high-profile Hideki Matsuyama failed to bag a bronze at the men’s competition.
While most of the public remained opposed to the Games, after they were postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19, the IOC has touted the high TV viewership to show the Japanese public’s support of the event.
TV ratings for a football semi-final between Japan and Spain at one point soared to 43%, according to the daily Yomiuri.
Organisers have also hailed their success in preventing a COVID-19 superspreader event among Olympic staff and athletes.
Although declining to give a final verdict on the Games until the Paralympics is over, Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said she “couldn’t say at this stage that we have achieved 100% success,” at a news conference on Sunday.
“If we had spectators, we wouldn’t have been able to provide a sense of safety for the general public,” Hashimoto said. The Games were held largely without spectators – a necessary evil for the organisers.
She said that she didn’t feel that the Games were “fully accepted” by the public yet, adding that there was room for improvement.
The Olympics was held within a “bubble” of incoming athletes and officials, separating them from the general public and preventing the spread of the virus.
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