The Olympics kicked off in the Japanese capital last week after a year-long delay. While worries over Covid-19 have overshadowed other concerns, Japan’s heat and humidity, where temperatures can exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95°F), also show how future Games will need to grapple with extremes as climate change bites. “Tokyo 2020 will serve as a model for future hotter Olympics and other summer sporting competitions,” said Yuri Hosokawa, an expert on sport and heat risks at Japan’s Waseda University. Hosokawa said some new heat mitigation measures, such as on-site medical treatment for serious heatstroke, instigated for Tokyo, could help shape how best to compete in the oppressive heat. Organisers have deployed a host of tools, from mist-spraying stations to cooling vests, as well as handing out salt tablets and ice cream to weary volunteers. The city, known as an innovation hub, has also deployed technology to help mitigate man-made change; be it roads that reflect heat or pavements that absorb water to stay cool, while moving the marathon and race-walk events to the cooler north. The International Olympic Committee said in emailed comments that it would take into account “flexibility and adaptation to the consequences of climate change” in planning future events.

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