Tokyo (AFP)

It faltered and even almost died out because of the Covid-19 pandemic: the Olympic flame will finally shine in Tokyo with a year late from Friday for two weeks of sporting exploits, still under the threat of the coronavirus.

This is perhaps the most important and expected daily count of the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8), the first planetary meeting organized since the start of the pandemic.

More than the medal table, the whole world - in particular Japan, whose population has been hostile to these "pandemic games" until the end - will scrutinize the daily figures of Covid cases among athletes, volunteers and other Olympic participants.

According to the official count made public by the organizers on Monday, 58 positive cases of Covid-19 have been detected since July 1, out of nearly 20,000 people (athletes, supervisors, journalists) who have arrived in the country, including the first cases in the Olympic Village. (a supervisor from the South African football team then two players this weekend, a Czech beach volleyball player on Sunday).

The Games in Tokyo, postponed for a year to March 20, 2020 - another unprecedented measure in Olympic history - will take place in front of empty stands and are decidedly apart!

- 13 billion euros -

After spending 13 billion euros, including an additional cost of 2.3 billion because of the postponement and health measures, Tokyo is ready ("the city best prepared of all time for the Olympics", assured the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach), but the megalopolis of 14 million inhabitants is subject to a state of health emergency, throughout the duration of the Olympics, which forces bars and restaurants to close at 8:00 p.m.

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We are far from the overwhelming enthusiasm aroused by the designation of the Japanese capital as the host city of the XXXII Games in modern history on September 8, 2013. On television that day, television presenters had cried, while the country exulted.

Japan was then barely recovering from the triple disaster of March 11, 2011 (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident in Fukushima), which killed some 18,500 people.

The Olympics were immediately baptized "Reconstruction Games".

It was before the Covid which profoundly changed the planet and which killed around 15,000 people in Japan.

The pandemic was not the only reason for migraines and doubts for the organizers who had to face their share of scandals, like the one which pushed the president of the organizing committee Yoshiro Mori to resign last February for sexist remarks, from another time.

In sporting terms, these Olympics are already historic, since for the first time, there will be as many women as men to participate in the 339 events on the program in the name of the balance between the sexes dear to Thomas Bach who also pushed for the inclusion of so-called "young and urban" sports, such as skateaboarding, surfing, 3x3 basketball or even climbing.

- Riner in history?

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Among the 11,090 sportsmen registered in Tokyo, no sports icon of planetary dimension - with the possible exception of the undisputed boss of world tennis Novak Djokovic - since Usain Bolt is now a retiree of the athletics tracks, that the superstar of NBA LeBron James did not wish to participate or that the stars of the round ball Neymar, Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappé were not released by their clubs.

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American swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky, their compatriot Simone Biles (gymnastics), engaged on all fronts in their sport, can however afford an impressive collection of titles and / or medals.

Traditional highlight of all the Olympic Games, the men's 100 meters, scheduled for August 1, however, promises to be unusually undecided.

But French sport is perhaps the hero of these Olympics: in the land of judo, in the "temple" of Nippon Budokan, Teddy Riner can become on July 30, at the age of 32, the first triple Olympic champion in history in the premier heavyweight category.

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Judo, a major provider of Olympic podiums in French sport, will also count on Clarisse Agbegnenou, five-time world champion and 2016 Olympic vice-champion, who will also be the flag bearer of the French delegation during the opening ceremony alongside the gymnast Samir Aït Saïd, another novelty of these Olympics-2020.

To do better than in Rio (42 medals, including ten gold), three years before its major meeting of the Olympics-2024 in Paris, the French delegation will also rely on Kevin Mayer (decathlon), Charline Picon ( windsurfing), Vincent Luis (triathlon), Loana Lecompte (mountain biking), his basketball and handball teams, ladies and gentlemen, as well as horse riding and fencing, not to mention sports, such as track cycling, shooting and rowing which briefly pass in the light at each Olympics.

And it is the footballers, returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1996, who will be the first French in contention, against Mexico on Thursday, 2,872 days since Tokyo was entrusted with the organization of these definitely extraordinary Games. .

© 2021 AFP