Thousands of Africans are making their way to Tokyo for the Olympics.
The Tokyo games were supposed to start last year but as with most things in 2020 they were postponed because of Covid-19.
And just a few days before the athlete’s village officially opened last week, Tokyo entered another state of emergency.
This has meant even more restrictions for organisers and the competitors to deal with. Despite all this the stadiums are ready, and the athletes are arriving.
Celestine Karoney, a BBC Sport journalist who has just arrived in Tokyo to cover the games, told me the atmosphere in Tokyo was subdued.
So how has this affected the athletes?
Ms Karoney says the athletes she has spoken to believe the Olympics should go ahead, that “they wanted them to go ahead”.
But some of them have told her the games won’t be fair this year because of the way they have had to train with Covid restrictions – often training on their own and away from their coaches. Also, in the run up to these games other events that would have tested the athletes have been cancelled.
Karoney told me that there are many new sports that have been included that we can look forward to like karate, surfing, and skate boarding.
She says many Africans are competing in these because they are “sports that attract young people”.
In the next episode of Africa Daily I’ll be looking at what we can expect from the continent’s athletes.
Source: BBC
