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OLYMPIC 2020: MARATHON, RACE WALKS MOVED FROM TOKYO TO SAPPORO
BY DUNCAN MACKAY
The Olympic marathon and race walking events for next year’s Olympic Games have been moved from Tokyo to Sapporo, it has been announced on Wednesday.
The move to Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, will mean significantly lower temperatures for the athletes during the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) claimed.
In Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympic Games, temperatures during the Games period are as much as five to six degrees centigrade cooler during the day than in Tokyo, more than 800 kilometres further south than the Japanese capital.
Concerns over the heat at Tokyo 2020 have grown in recent months after more than 50 people died in the city in July after temperatures of 40 degrees.
“Athletes’ health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns,” IOC President Thomas Bach said upon his arrival here to attend the last day of the Association of National Olympic Committees World Beach Games.
“A range of measures to protect the athletes have already been announced.
“The new far-reaching proposals to move the marathon and race walking events show how seriously we take such concerns.”
This latest initiative by the IOC and Tokyo 2020 comes on top of other heat countermeasures which are already planned and being implemented on the recommendations of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission Adverse Weather Impact Expert Working Group (the IOC Working Group).
They include the longer distance events over 5,000 metres being scheduled in the evening and not in the morning, all morning matches at the rugby sevens finishing before 12pm and mountain bike races being delayed until 3pm.
It had already been announced marathon start times had been brought forward to counteract temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees at 6am local time in Tokyo.
Special paint coatings sprayed on roads to reduce roadside temperatures was another initiative being considered to make conditions more manageable for the runners and walkers.
But now it has been decided that the races need to be moved.
The IOC appear determined to avoid a repeat of what occurred at the recent international Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Athletics Championships in Doha, where almost half the field failed to complete the women’s marathon because of sweltering heat and humidity even though that the men’s races both started at midnight.
“The Olympic Games are the platform where athletes can give ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ performances, and these measures ensure they have the conditions to give their best,” Bach said.
“I would like to thank World Athletics [the IAAF], and we look forward to working with them on the implementation.
On August 2, which marked one-year to go until the women’s Olympic marathon was due to take place, the temperature at the start time of 6am was 30 degrees with humidity at 70 per cent.
The decision to move the events has been supported by IAAF President Sebastian Coe.
“We have been working closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the potential weather conditions at next year’s Olympic Games and will continue to work with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the proposal to move the road events to Sapporo,” he said.
The women’s marathon is due to take place on August 2 and the men’s on August 9, the last day of the Olympics.
The men’s 20 kilometres race walk is due to be the first gold medal awarded on the athletics programme with that scheduled for July 31.
it is then due to be followed by the women’s 20km race walk on August 7 and the men’s 50km race the following day.
“Giving athletes the best platform for their performances within the environment they are in is central to all major events, and we will work with the organisers to create the very best marathon and race walk courses for next year’s Olympic Games,” Coe said.
-insidethegames
UEFA appears poised for an emergency vote on suspending Israel from European competition next week, with national federations scrambling to position themselves amid mounting political pressure following calls for action.
The brewing crisis intensified this week when United Nations experts called for Israel’s suspension from international football amid the unfolding genocide in occupied Palestinian territory.
A source confirmed that Europe’s soccer body could potentially decide next week to vote on whether to suspend Israel from European competition.
Should UEFA vote to ban Israel, it would put the organisation on a collision course with the government of the United States — co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup — which is vehemently against such a motion.
“We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup,” a spokesperson for the U.S. state department told Sky News.
But even though UEFA has the power to suspend Israel or its clubs from their competitions, it may not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which fall under the ambit of global soccer body FIFA.
The general secretaries of all UEFA national associations are meeting this week in Marbella, where Israel is not officially on the agenda, but officials expect UEFA to call an emergency vote next week.
FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment while UEFA declined to comment.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub said Israelis should not be allowed to participate in any matches, whether they are under UEFA or FIFA.
“Israel has violated the principles, values and FIFA’s statutes. Therefore, I believe that Israel should be sanctioned,” Rajoub told TV2.
“The sanctions should come from UEFA and FIFA.”
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Israel’s national team are set to face Norway and Italy, the top two teams in their World Cup qualifying group, next month.
“We don’t have any indications that we are facing such an act (UEFA suspension),” a spokesperson for the Israel Football Association told Reuters.
“We are focusing on our international matches against Norway and Italy.”
Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) is one of the member associations that have been the driving force behind calling for a meeting on the Israel situation. The NFF declined to comment.
Lise Klaveness, the president of the NFF and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, has also been vocal about the crisis in Gaza ahead of her country’s home game against Israel on October 11.
“Neither we nor other organisations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time,” Klaveness said in a statement last month.
“We want to donate the proceeds (from the game) to a humanitarian organisation that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Dutch football federation (KNVB) said it knows nothing about a vote to suspend Israel.
“As soon as the football association receives a message about this, it will take a position,” the KNVB told Dutch outlet NOS.
Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel should be banned from international sports competitions. However, officials from the Spanish FA (RFEF) have kept a low profile on the matter.
Israel maintains that its war is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the war.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, according to local health officials.
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A hat-trick from George Agha and a sublime free-kick goal from David Edeh ensured a comfortable start for five-time world champions Nigeria in the WAFU-B U17 Championship, as the Golden Eaglets routed Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4 -1 in Yamoussoukro on Wednesday.
Agha converted from the spot three minutes into the game after Boluwatife Thompson was hacked inside the box.
Edeh displayed fantastic football artistry to score from a free-kick in the 5th minute of the encounter.
The Eaglets were in cruise control as Agha bagged his brace in the 14th minute. The charges of Manu Garba were very dominant with a three-goal advantage.
Warris Soumanou in goal for Benin Republic was caught napping and his error of judgement gave the Eaglets another goal after a beautiful exchange of passes and dribbles between Thompson and Edeh, which set up Agha for his hat-trick in the 32nd minute.
It was raining goals and it was the turn of the Beninoise in the 45th minute, as a low drive from Jeremy Zannou gave the Baby Cheetahs a consolation goal.
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Mohamed Salah’s dramatic stoppage-time penalty ensured Liverpool maintained their winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at promoted side Burnley on Sunday.
With British record signing Alexander Isak forced to wait for his Liverpool debut having been left out the squad for the trip to Lancashire, the champions struggled to break down a dogged home side in the first half.
After a regroup at the break, the visitors upped the ante in the second half, with Dominik Szoboszlai finally forcing a fine save from Martin Dubravka in the Burnley goal.
Burnley were holding on for a well-earned point with ease, before the ball agonisingly struck substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s arm in the penalty area and Salah slotted the spot kick into the net in the 95th minute to break home hearts.
Liverpool are still to really get going this season, requiring a winner in the last 10 minutes of all four of their league victories so far. The goal that clinched an undeserved success at Turf Moor was certainly the most fortunate.
After one of the longest transfer sagas in Premier League history finally reached its expected conclusion, Liverpool supporters were forced to wait two weeks for their first glimpse of their 125-million-pound ($169.45-million) goal machine due to the international break.
While coach Arne Slot said this week that Isak would have to be utilised carefully due to his previous injuries and lack of action so far this season, the Swede was still expected to at least be on the bench at Turf Moor.
The wait goes on as, without their expensive new forward, Liverpool mustered just one shot on target in the first half, from left-back Andrew Robertson.
Burnley, who conceded the fewest goals in English football league history last term to earn them promotion, otherwise frustrated the champions with ease. Even Lesley Ugochukwu’s red card for two bookings in the 84th minute did not seem to fluster them.
Even without Isak, Liverpool still had much attacking talent on the Turf Moor pitch but they just could not find that killer pass.
Salah was especially below par but he made no mistake in the most pressurised moment after Hannibal had stuck up an arm to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross
The champions’ impressive Premier League goalscoring streak stretches to 38 games nonetheless, their longest such run in the competition.
-Reuters
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