Tokyo (AFP)
Uncertainty about the participation of Russia, accused of large-scale doping, and the risk of heat waves cloud the final stretch of the Tokyo Olympics (July 24-August 9), six months before the opening ceremony.
Tokyo-2020 has however managed to avoid the organizational problems that have undermined previous Olympic Games: "I have never seen an Olympic city so well prepared" had praised Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year ).
The construction or renovation of the Olympic venues has been completed on time and is almost complete, and tickets for the event are selling like hotcakes, including for the Paralympics (August 25-September 6).
However, external elements could spoil part of the party next summer. Starting with the exclusion of Russia from any international sports competition for four years, pronounced last month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Russia has appealed to the Arbitration Tribunal for Sport (CAS) against this sanction from WADA, which accuses Moscow of having practiced state doping by manipulating the doping control data of its athletes.
- Avoid "total confusion" -
However, the CAS could wait until May to make its decision, just two months before the start of the Games, several sources told AFP.
Mr. Bach said he hoped for a CAS decision "which leaves no room for interpretation" in order to avoid "total confusion".
During the Rio Games in 2016, the IOC decided to let each international sports federation decide on a case-by-case basis on the participation of Russian athletes. And during the 2018 Pyeongchang (South Korea) Winter Games, the IOC suspended Russia while individually inviting athletes from the country to compete under a neutral flag.
Even less predictable than the fate of Russian athletes: the weather, which has become a huge headache for Japanese organizers who fear a possible heat wave next summer.
In 1964, the previous Tokyo Olympics were held in October, precisely to avoid the extreme heat and humidity that generally overwhelms the capital in summer, a phenomenon that has increased in recent years.
Doctors have warned of the risks of death from the Games due to heat stroke, both for the athletes, spectators and staff.
The Olympic test events last summer gave the organizers a taste of what could happen worse: the French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand was hospitalized due to sunstroke, a dozen people were also taken ill. after a rowing race, while a worker died at the beginning of August on a site of the Olympic Games, most probably because of the heat.
- Relocated marathon -
The Organizing Committee (Tokyo-2020) tested various techniques to combat the heat - artificial snow, foggers, new road surface, free distribution of fans and towels for mopping -. The schedules for several events have also been brought forward in the morning to avoid the scorching afternoon sun.
But these efforts hardly convinced the IOC, which relocated the marathon and walking events to Sapporo, 800 km north of Tokyo, where the summer temperatures are supposed to be milder.
This IOC choice was badly accepted thanks to Tokyo. "It is a decision without agreement," squeaked last November the mayor of the capital, Yuriko Koike, who counted on the flagship event of the marathon to promote his city before the cameras of the whole world.
Organizers are also preparing emergency plans in the event of a natural disaster, while the Japanese archipelago is located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world and it is approached or swept by around ten typhoons per year , some of which can be very violent.
Last October the powerful cyclone Hagibis killed nearly 100 people in Japan and led to the cancellation of three unprecedented matches of the Rugby World Cup, which was then taking place in the archipelago.
But all these obstacles do not seem to undermine Japan's determination: "We will do everything possible (...) to make the Games a success", hammered last week before the media the Minister for the Olympic Games, the former athlete Seiko Hashimoto.
© 2020 AFP