Faced with the surprise of Tokyo, the IOC defends its idea of ​​moving the marathon to Sapporo in the Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not want to repeat in Tokyo 2020 the scenes lived in Doha, during the recent World Cup, where the athletes finished (if they did) exhausted the long distance tests due to the overdose of heat and humidity of the place . That is why he has defended his project of moving the marathon and the march of the Olympic Games to the north of Japan to escape the strong summer heat of the Japanese capital, to the surprise of the responsible Japanese.

The IOC said that it contemplated the transfer of these tests to Sapporo , on the great northern island of Hokkaido, because of the risk that temperatures will be very high in a very humid environment.

"This has surprised Tokyo 2020 and I understand it," John Coates, chairman of the IOC coordination committee, told the Japanese press agency Kyodo from Doha. "But the problem is that we cannot leave information like this on the air. We must act quickly and we did not want guesses or rumors and it was preferable to tell our project directly," he added.

"We want athletes to offer the best of themselves and we know at this time that this is not possible in Tokyo," he continued. Located more than 800 km north of the capital, Sapporo records temperatures between 5 and 6 degrees lower during the day in summer. "I was very surprised that the IOC cites Sapporo in particular, but at the same time I feel very honored," city mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto told reporters.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike spoke on her part of "a very unexpected announcement." "We know that many inhabitants (of Tokyo) are looking forward to this event and are preparing for it," he said. "I want to discuss what would be better."

From June to September 2018, some 93,000 people in Japan went to the emergency services for heat stroke, and 159 of those patients died. Most cases took place between mid-July and mid-August, precisely the period of the next Games.

The sports tests conducted this summer have only increased concern. In mid-August, French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand had to be hospitalized for heat stroke during a test in Tokyo. The last time the Japanese capital hosted the summer Olympics, in 1964, the event took place in October, precisely to avoid the heat.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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