By Corky Siemaszko-NBC News
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have been struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19, but they are also grappling with another problem that is largely beyond their control: a heat wave.
Day after day,
temperatures of more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit
(about 32 centigrade) and high humidity have caused organizers to
reschedule rugby matches and mountain
biking competitions and change the schedules of some athletic events for the first hours. in the morning or evening in order to avoid the strong afternoon sun.
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Other events, such as
the marathon and the march, have moved out of Tokyo
to the cooler city of Sapporo, capital of the mountainous island of Hokkaido in northern Japan, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics.
Organizers
set up refrigerated tents for athletes
competing in Tokyo, also transported water mist fans and have begun providing ice cream to the army of volunteers who help organize the Games.
At the beach volleyball venue at Shiokaze Park in Tokyo, organizers began hosing down the sand after competitors complained about burning their feet.
Russian goalkeeper Svetlana Gomboeva fainted from 91 degrees Fahrenheit during a qualifying round in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. Reuters
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On Friday, Russian goalkeeper Svetlana Gomboeva fainted from the 91-degree Fahrenheit temperature during a qualifying round, succumbing to the humid heat that has raged in Tokyo for several days and shows little sign of abating.
"She couldn't take a whole day in that heat
," coach Stanislav Popov told reporters at the archery range, as Gomboeva's teammates put ice packs on her head to lower her temperature.
Popov said he hopes Gomboeva will recover, adding that it was "the first time I remember something like this happening.
In Vladivostok, where we were training, the weather was similar.
But the humidity played a role here. "
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The heat "can definitely take its toll on all of us, even the most athletic people in the world," said John Torres, senior medical correspondent for NBC News.
Sweltering summers are nothing new in Tokyo.
But due to climate change,
the Tokyo Games
are forecast to
be the hottest on record
so far, said NBC News meteorologist Kathryn Prociv.
Compared to 1964, which was the last time Japan hosted the Summer Olympics, July and August temperatures in Tokyo are 2.7 degrees warmer, and there are now, on average,
eight more days with temperatures above those. 95 degrees Fahrenheit
compared to the event held 57 years ago, Prociv said.
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Recognizing the danger this climate could pose for athletes, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Games organizers published a series of recommendations created by the committee's medical division to help prevent Olympic athletes from overheating.
Torres said the intense concentration of athletes is one reason some are susceptible to heat stroke or dehydration.
"We adapt to heat and humidity through what is called thermoregulation, our body's ability to cool itself," Torres said.
"These athletes have strong thermoregulatory systems but during their competition they are pushing themselves to the limit of their abilities,
so their bodies do not have the normal reserves
to cool off."
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"Because of that," Torres said, "they can overheat very quickly, and since they are so focused on the competition, they may not even notice it until it becomes dangerous and possibly deadly."
High temperatures have played a role in the deaths of at least two athletes who competed in the Olympics, said David Wallechinsky, one of the founding members of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
"In the 1912 marathon, Francisco Lazaro of Portugal collapsed from overheating and died the next morning," Wallechinsky said in an email to NBC News, adding that 23,000 people attended a memorial ceremony held at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, the host city in Sweden where heat waves are rare.
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In 1960, Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen collapsed from heatstroke during the team time trial at the Summer Olympics in Rome.
Jensen "broke his skull and died in hospital," Wallechinsky said.
"He had probably taken amphetamines,
but that day it was 108 degrees Fahrenheit
."
The death of Jensen, who was only 23 years old, prompted the International Olympic Committee to implement drug testing of athletes at subsequent Games.
However, Jensen's defenders insist that an initial autopsy found no traces of drugs and concluded that he died of heatstroke.
The Tokyo Games take place amid a
state of emergency aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19
, so fans are not allowed in the stands even though several athletes have already tested positive for the disease.
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That means the situation at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when hundreds of spectators were treated for heat stroke, is unlikely to be repeated.
When asked if he had any advice for athletes dealing with the scorching heat, Torres said: “It is important to anticipate the inevitable dehydration, as it is very difficult to recover when the fluid runs out.
Also,
understand and listen to your bodies
”.
"If you start to feel dizzy, nauseous or confused, stop and seek medical attention," he added. "Often times,
heatstroke can go unnoticed
until the athlete enters a danger zone, and that can be life-threatening."