THE TROPICAL STORM approaching Tokyo has forced Olympic organisers to postpone Tuesday’s rowing finals because of the danger of strong winds.
As part of the rescheduling, Sanita Puspure’s semi-final in the single sculls has been postponed from Wednesday to 02.30 on Thursday morning, Irish time.
The storm, named Nepartak, is due to come over eastern Japan on Tuesday, bringing rain and gusty winds to the capital.
“Based on the weather forecasts received from the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games weather services, adverse weather is expected on Tuesday 27 July 2021 which would bring high winds and strong gusts creating unequal and potentially unrowable racing conditions,” Olympic organisers said in a statement.
The rowing finals due to have taken place on Tuesday, including the women’s four and men’s four events, will be moved to Wednesday.
That means a knock-on effect on other finals, which will now be moved from Thursday to Friday.
Organisers had already brought forward rowing heats as a “protective measure” on Saturday because of the storm.
© – AFP, 2021 with reporting by Gavin Cooney
