Tokyo Torch Relay Brings Reality of Olympics

(ATR) The countdown to the Tokyo Olympics is no longer just dates on a calendar.

For the next 119 days till the July 23 opening ceremony, 10,000 runners will carry the Olympic flame in the Olympic Torch Relay.

Starting in the earthquake recovery zone of Fukushima Thursday morning, the relay is now a daily physical reminder of the time left as well as the limitations imposed by COVID-19 countermeasures.

Like the rest of the Tokyo Olympics, the torch relay was put on hold last March as the world reacted to the mushrooming crisis over the coronavirus pandemic. The decision to put the relay on hold came just two days before it was to begin, included in the unprecedented move to delay the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics by one year.

The relay is following the same route and schedule as originally planned. But the pandemic is redefining the presentation. Unlike relays of past Games which measured success by the size and enthusiasm of crowds along the route, the opposite is desired for an OlympicTorch Relay in the COVID-19 era.

Day One crowd numbers seemed respectable given the limits. Organizers say they reserve the right to drop legs of the relay if crowding becomes a problem.

Such was the case last year with the customary relay in Greece following the lighting ceremony in Olympia. A large crowd in Sparta well beyond limits forced the government to order the end of the week-long Greek relay, just hours after it had started. The flame lit in Olympia was bundled off to Athens for a muted handover ceremony to Tokyo 2020. The arrival of the flame in Japan was also a muted affair, with the decision on postponement literally hours away.

The relay continues its trek through the Fukushima region for the next two days. Toyota and Coca-Cola are the primary sponsors of the relay.

The relay torch appears to be functioning without glitches. Constructed of aluminum, some of it recycled, the torch is meant to resemble a cherry blossom, now blooming across Japan. As an environmental consideration, the torches are fueled with hydrogen, the flame releasing no carbon dioxide.

Reported by Ed Hula.