Japan faces major hurdles with 100 days until Tokyo Olympics

Resurgence in COVID-19 in Japan, as well as elsewhere in the world, is the latest challenge to the long-delayed event.

The Olympic flame is on its way around Japan and athletes around the world are ramping up their training programmes, but with 100 days before the delayed Tokyo 2020 games finally open, its organisers face monumental challenges. The biggest headache is the resurgent coronavirus, with countries such as India and Brazil battling new variants and a fresh rise in cases and continuing anti-virus border restrictions have disrupted many qualifying events. In Japan, its vaccination programme has been the slowest among developed economies, with Tokyo lurching in and out of soft lockdowns and battling a renewed spike in cases.