Olympic organisers shuffle schedule as a typhoon approaches

The Summer Olympics have already been hampered by a pandemic and sweltering heat. On Tuesday, athletes and organisers also had to deal with strong winds and heavy rain, with a typhoon expected to make landfall north of Tokyo in the afternoon.

The storm will most likely avoid a direct hit on the capital of Japan, but the winds and waves on the periphery of the storm were already upsetting Olympic plans in and around the city.

Contest organisers took advantage of the swell and jammed surfing’s quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches into one busy day. The event had been set to end no sooner than Wednesday, but the schedule was adjusted once it was determined that the wildest waves were coming a day early.

Olympic organisers also delayed rowing and archery. Otherwise, events were expected to proceed as planned.

A forecast by the Japan Meteorological Agency called for about 6 inches of rain over a 24-hour period through Wednesday morning, with winds reaching speeds of up to about 45 mph.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are essentially the same. They are all circular storms that form over warm water, with very low air pressure at the centre, and winds greater than 74 mph — but what they are called depends on where they form.

“Hurricane” is used to refer to storms that form in the North Atlantic, the northeastern Pacific, the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, whereas “typhoon” is used for storms that develop in the northwestern Pacific and usually threaten Asia. “Cyclone” refers to storms in the South Pacific and in the Indian Ocean.

The forecast is not all bad news, however. Competitors in the surfing event said the storm surge had already stoked bigger waves. And some athletes even welcomed the challenge, including Haley Batten, an American scheduled to compete Tuesday on a mountain-biking course on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

“It definitely makes the event even more exciting,” she told reporters Sunday. “So I’m just embracing the chaos.”

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