Tokyo hosts 4-country gymnastics meet to test covid safety

TOKYO  - Gymnasts from the United States, China and Russia will join counterparts from Japan in a one-day meet on Sunday in Tokyo, believed to be the first international sports event in the country since the Olympics were postponed seven months ago.

The meet itself involving 30 gymnasts is largely meaningless. What’s important is for Japanese government and Olympic officials to show that foreign athletes can enter Japan safely and not spread COVID-19.

This is another step in attempting to illustrate that Tokyo will be able to hold next year’s Olympics - even without a vaccine - in the midst of a pandemic.

About 2,000 fans will be allowed to attend the meet at the iconic Yoyogi Gymnasium, which was the venue for swimming in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It will be the venue for handball when the Olympics open on July 23, 2021.

Last weekend a Japanese professional baseball team filled a 30,000-seat stadium to show that fans could attend events safely.

The Olympics are gigantic and another story.

They will involve 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and thousands of staff, judges, officials, media and broadcasters. It’s also unclear if Japanese and non-Japanese fans will be allowed to attend.

Just over 1,800 deaths in Japan have been attributed to COVID-19. Japan has largely closed to borders since the outbreak to control the virus.

The athletes this weekend underwent a two-week quarantine before entering Japan. They are traveling between the venue and their hotel in special buses.

They are also taking many precautions including reports that they will have to bring their own chalk during their competitions - not using a communal supply as is usual.

Two-time defending Olympic gold-medalist Kohei Uchimura of Japan, who reported a positive test last week for COVID-19, subsequently tested negative several times. He is expected to participate.