Tokyo 2020: The Olympic Heat Wave Risk

A Responsibility to Protect Athletes and Spectators

In its pitch, the Tokyo Olympic Bid Committee claimed that “conditions at this time of year are warm, providing an ideal climate for athletes.” Well, that’s one way of putting it. But to describe typical conditions as “warm” does not come close to describing reality. “Intense heat” would be closer to the truth.

So why are people not more worried? There has certainly been no international backlash yet—perhaps because relatively few people realize just how harsh the conditions here are at that time of year. Some concerns have been raised about the heat, mainly from competitors in track-and-field events. Athletes and coaching staff from around the world, including those in Japan, will no doubt be looking to do all they can to combat the heat.

Tokyo won the bid for the 2020 Olympics because of its promise to deliver a safe games. If Tokyo is not to betray that trust, those in charge of organizing the games have a responsibility to do all they can to protect both athletes and spectators from what is likely to be searing heat.

(Originally written in Japanese on December 12, 2013. Title photo: Gabriela Andersen aims for the finish line in the Los Angeles Olympics women’s marathon on August 5, 1984. Photo by Aflo.)

Sessions of the Summer Olympics