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BBC OS Conversations: The Tokyo Olympics

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The Tokyo Olympics

24/07/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - BBC OS Conversations, The Tokyo Olympics

The Tokyo Olympics are underway, a year late than planned

The Tokyo Olympics are underway, a year later than planned

A year later than planned, due to the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics are underway. Yet Covid cases in the capital are rising, and a recent poll showed that 55% of people in Japan were opposed to the Games being held in Tokyo with fears that it could become a super spreader event.  
 
For the athletes, it’s business as usual, albeit under extraordinary circumstances. Host Nuala McGovern hears from 19 year old US-born Joseph Fahnbulleh, who is representing Liberia on the athletics track in the 200 metres race; and Mary Hanna who has competed in five previous Olympics as part of the Australian equestrian team. At 66 years old, she is the oldest athlete at the Games and gives Joe some invaluable advice. They also discuss how the pandemic has affected training - for better and worse - and how they feel about competing during a pandemic.

Plus, we hear from three volunteers and discover why one of them had a last minute change of heart, and three residents in Tokyo share their thoughts and concerns about the arrival of thousands of athletes and delegates coming to their city.

(Photo: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Basketball 3x3 Training - Aomi Urban Sports Park, Tokyo, Japan - July 22, 2021 Stephanie Mawuli of Japan during training. Credit: Andrew Boyers/Reuters)

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