Olympics actually kick off Wednesday, in Sapporo!

 Japan Olympic Museum

The Olympic rings are seen lit outside the Japan Olympic Museum in Tokyo on July 20, 2021 ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
 

Photo credit: Yuki Iwamura | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Race walking competitions will take place on August 5 and 6, respectively. The women’s marathon will be held on August 7, followed by the men’s event on August 8.
  • The marathon events are scheduled to start at 7am local time in a bid to beat potential heat.

In Tokyo, Japan

The Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic Games may be scheduled for Friday, but the Games actually kick off Wednesday, and not in Tokyo, but Sapporo!

Great Britain face Chile from 4.30pm local time (10.30am Kenyan time) in a women’s football Group ‘E’ match at the Sapporo Dome.

Other women’s football games lined up Wednesday are (in Kenyan time): China vs Brazil (Group ‘F’, 11am), Sweden vs USA (Group ‘G’, 11.30am), Japan vs Canada (Group ‘E’, 1.30pm), Zambia vs Netherlands (Group ‘F’, 2pm) and Australia vs New Zealand (Group ‘G’, 2.30pm).

In Tokyo, there were more Team Kenya arrivals Tuesday with boxing and taekwondo teams all set to launch their final preparations from Wednesday.

Kenya’s boxing team that arrived Tuesday at the Olympic Village has Elizabeth Akinyi (welterweight), Christine Ongare (flyweight), Nick Okoth (captain, featherweight) and Elly Ajowi (heavyweight).

They are handled by the technical bench of Musa Benjamin (head coach), David Munuhe and John Waweru.

Faith Ogallo, 26, is the sole representative in taekwondo.

Meanwhile, with the women’s marathon scheduled for August 7 and the men’s race the following day, host city Sapporo Tuesday recorded its highest temperatures in 21 years.

Temperatures of up to 35 Celcius were recorded before 2pm.

The Sapporo Dome will host the men's and women's football matches at the Olympics. Race walk and marathon events will also take place in Sapporo after the events were controversially moved from Tokyo in 2019 because of fears over extreme heat in the capital city.

Sapporo is more than 800 kilometres away from the host city, Tokyo. Japan’s Meteorological Agency reported temperatures in Sapporo hit 35 degrees Celsius before 2pm local time, the highest temperature in the city since 2000.

Wednesday's Great Britain vs Chile women’s football match is expected to kick off with the temperature registering 28 degrees Celsius.

Race walking competitions will take place on August 5 and 6, respectively. The women’s marathon will be held on August 7, followed by the men’s event on August 8.

The marathon events are scheduled to start at 7am local time in a bid to beat potential heat.

Additional reporting by insidethegames.biz.