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Heat, humidity and tropical systems have been the nemesis of athletes during these Olympics, and the closing weekend will bring more of the same.
Although heat and humidity in July are common, these levels were above average.
Tropical systems can also occur in July, but traditionally the months of greatest intensity in Japan are August and September.
The organizers tried to help the athletes escape the heat and humidity by changing the venues and times of the events during the first weeks, but the heat and humidity will still affect the next marathon.
These are the maximum temperatures expected for this Saturday.
Heat and humidity: a critical combination
It's not just about temperatures, it's also about humidity.
When both are high, conditions can be overwhelming for athletes.
When the body gets too hot, it sweats to cool off.
But if sweat can't evaporate, the body can't regulate its temperature.
We need evaporation to effectively cool the body.
When the relative humidity is high, the evaporation rate from the body decreases, according to the National Weather Service.
In other words, the human body feels warmer in humid conditions.
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To find cooler temperatures, the Olympic Games marathon events are held this weekend in Sapporo.
Sapporo, about 800 kilometers north of Tokyo, can be up to 22 ° C lower.
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But the high temperatures affecting Tokyo are spreading across the country.
Saturday will be colder in Tokyo than in Sapporo.
Due to the rain forecast, the maximum temperature in Tokyo on Saturday will be 31.1 ° C, while that of Sapporo will be 33.8 ° C.
The women's marathon will take place on Saturday morning, while the men will run on Sunday.
This weekend, Sapporo will have morning lows of about 25 degrees and evening highs of 32.2 ° C to 33.8 ° C.
These temperatures are between 5 and 7 degrees above normal.
Temperatures during both races will likely be between 26 ° C and 30 ° C.
Relative humidity of 70% to 80% will make you feel warmer.
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The organizers moved the start of the women's race an hour earlier, at 6 in the morning, to avoid the heat.
"The health and well-being of the athletes are the top priorities of the organizers. After receiving advice from the World Athletics Association medical team and reviewing all other considerations, the World Athletics Association (WA ), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee held a series of talks today and confirmed the time change, "a Tokyo 2020 statement reads.
But will that time be the one that makes the difference?
Sunrise in Sapporo is now around 4:30 in the morning.
If the race starts at 7am, the sun will have been out for 2.5 hours before the race starts.
In comparison, let's say you're a runner trying to beat the heat with an early workout in Atlanta, where sunrise is around 6:50 a.m. This would be like doing your workout between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., not exactly the ideal time to be running.
The only relief from the temperature may come from a tropical storm that will dump buckets of water on athletes this weekend.
A tropical storm will hit Tokyo this weekend
The Olympics have already been hit by a tropical system when Nepartak made landfall in the first week.
Now another, tropical storm Mirinae, will affect the last weekend.
Trials like rowing have been postponed for two days due to the storm.
This is the possible path of the storm that will affect athletes at the Olympics this Saturday.
The center of the storm is expected to pass just southeast of Tokyo on Sunday morning.
At the moment, it seems that most of the rains will occur between Saturday night and the first half of Sunday.
Some scattered showers and thunderstorms could linger into the evening for the closing ceremony.
There will be some gusts of wind, especially in the first half of Sunday, but they shouldn't be too damaging as Mirinae is expected to remain a mid-range tropical storm.
The closing ceremony will be this Sunday at 8:00 pm local time (7:00 am EDT time).
Heat Temperature
