TOPLINE Three foreign athletes residing in the Olympic village and 16 other people linked to the Tokyo Olympics have tested positive for Covid-19, the games’ organizers announced on Friday, marking a record daily rise in cases tied to the event just hours before the opening ceremony is scheduled to kick off.



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According to the organizing committee, the three infected athletes include two from the Czech Republic and one from the Netherlands,&nbsp; who are now undergoing a 14-day period of isolation,&nbsp;Kyodo News&nbsp;<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/07/6d30a069f5aa-19-olympic-linked-covid-cases-reported-on-opening-ceremony-day.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



It’s unclear how many athletes have been identified as close contacts to the three positive cases, but they will not be required to enter isolation and will be allowed to compete if they test negative within six hours of the start of their events.



The 16 other people who tested positive include three contractors and three members of the media, the organizers said without offering additional details.



A total of 106 Covid-19 cases linked to the Olympics have been recorded since July 1, when the organizers started offering daily updates.



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1,979. That’s the total number of Covid-19 cases&nbsp;<a href="https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;in Tokyo on Thursday, the highest daily count since mid-January. After flattening out last month, cases in Tokyo began to rise in July, forcing the Japanese government to impose a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/07/08/japan-declares-covid-emergency-in-tokyo-olympics-likely-to-have-no-fans-in-attendance/?sh=561896294e7c">state of emergency</a>&nbsp;in the national capital.



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The steady rise in the number of cases linked to the Olympics has raised questions about the adequacy of the safety measures put in place for the mega event. Experts have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympic-village-covid-19-infection-bubble-already-broken-health-expert-2021-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>&nbsp;that the Olympic’s Covid-19 bubble has already been breached and it could lead to a larger outbreak that may spill into the Japanese population. Visiting athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are expected to follow a stringent set of pandemic-related rules which were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/archive/2021/06/?sh=47defdb81f67">unveiled last month</a>. Under the rules, all participating athletes and officials will be screened for the virus daily and are required to provide saliva samples at set times. Athletes, who can only stay in officially approved accommodations, will have their movements restricted and will be subject to GPS tracking by officials.



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<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/07/6d30a069f5aa-19-olympic-linked-covid-cases-reported-on-opening-ceremony-day.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">19 Olympic-linked COVID cases reported on opening ceremony day</a>&nbsp;(Kyodo News)



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympic-village-covid-19-infection-bubble-already-broken-health-expert-2021-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Olympics-Athletes&#8217; village COVID-19 isolation bubble already &#8216;broken&#8217; &#8211; health expert</a> (Reuters)



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Opening Ceremony – Olympics: Day 0

Nineteen New Olympic Covid-19 Cases Reported On Opening Ceremony Day Including Three Foreign Athletes

TOPLINE The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday announced that it will ban the sale of alcohol at venues and stringent rules that spectators attending the games will have to follow as Tokyo enters its final month of preparation before the games begin on July 23.



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Seiko Hashimoto, the head of the Tokyo games’ organizing committee, told reporters that the organizers have decided to ban the sale of alcohol at games venues following “experts’ advice” and added that event sponsor Asahi Breweries agreed with the decision.



<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/23/national/tokyo-olympics-alcohol-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;Japan Times, the games’ organizers had been considering a plan to allow the sale of alcohol with some restrictions but the initial plan provoked public outcry in the country.



Spectators coming to venues will be required to wear masks and face temperature checks—attendees who display high temperature or any other Covid symptoms will not be allowed to enter and received no refunds.



Because of Japan’s summer heat, spectators will be allowed to remove their masks at outdoor venues if they can ensure there is a two-meter gap between them and other spectators, Kyodo News&nbsp;<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/06/3b3748b7440a-tokyo-marks-1-month-until-pandemic-hit-olympics.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



Inside the venue, spectators are barred from making direct contact with others, cheering loudly, giving high-fives, towel-waving or asking for autographs from athletes.



All attendees will be asked to retain their ticket stubs or ticketing data for at least two weeks after they attend an event as the organizers plan to post the seat number and date of attendance of any attendee who tests positive after the event.



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“The festive mood will have to be suppressed—that has become a major challenge,” Hashimoto told reporters&nbsp;<a href="https://sports.ndtv.com/olympics-2020/no-booze-no-autographs-tokyo-2020-unveils-fan-rules-with-a-month-to-go-2470267" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;AFP. “People can feel joy in their hearts, but they can&#8217;t be loud, and they have to avoid crowds. Those are the areas where we need to be creative, and we are putting in a lot of effort to come up with a new way of celebrating.”



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Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike did not make a public appearance on Wednesday as she has taken a break from official duties and is resting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tokyo-governor-koike-taking-break-this-week-due-fatigue-nhk-2021-06-22/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">due to severe fatigue</a>. Citing sources Kyodo News reported she was admitted to hospital in the capital on Tuesday.



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After weeks of speculation, the organizers Monday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/06/21/domestic-spectators-can-attend-tokyo-olympics-attendance-to-be-capped-at-10000/?sh=2b784d306950">announced</a>&nbsp;that domestic fans will be allowed to attend events at the Tokyo Olympics, but venues will have a spectator limit of 10,000 or up to 50% of capacity to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19. The decision came as Tokyo and several other Japanese regions exited their Covid state of emergency. However, the Japanese capital is expected to remain under a quasi-emergency state until July 11. The cap on attendance at the Olympic events mirrors the rules laid out by the Japanese government for all other large events like music concerts and local sports—although the serving of alcohol is allowed at these other events. Following the announcement, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide told reporters that if a new state of emergency is declared during the games due to the pandemic, the event may then have to take place behind closed doors. Suga’s sentiment was echoed by Koike, who said the organizers will revisit the decision and consider going forward without any spectators should there be a “major dramatic change in the infection situation.”



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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tokyo-2020-tokyo-olympics-olympic-games-coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-b0c7951989b4b0b61ddde7f8ec9c8429" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokyo shapes up to be No-Fun Olympics with many rules, tests</a>&nbsp;(Associated Press)



<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/23/national/tokyo-olympics-alcohol-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokyo Games organizers backtrack, banning alcohol at Olympic venues</a>&nbsp;(Japan Times)



<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/06/e6ab72f27ed6-feature-tokyo-olympic-chief-pins-hopes-on-smooth-opening-in-1-months-time.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokyo Olympic chief pins hopes on smooth opening in 1 month&#8217;s time</a> (Kyodo News)



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Venue Tour

No Alcohol, No Autographs, No Cheers: Tokyo Olympics Organizers Unveil Rules For Spectators

Brenda Howden wears her eminence and her gold medal lightly.
“I don’t blow my own trumpet. A lot of children here do not know I have won an Olympic gold medal,” she smiles.
Howden is a picture of fitness and understatement, on this cool winter’s afternoon at Auckland Park Preparatory School in Johannesburg, where she is headmistress. As well as her eminence, she also wears lightly her blue 1980 Olympics jacket. It fits like a glove and you can easily imagine she could still tear down the wing, hockey stick in hand.
It is ironic that, 32 years ago, Howden, then known as Brenda Phillips, was considered too weak to make the grade at the Olympics. She was one of the Bulawayo contingent, which included striker Pat McKillop, goalkeeper Sarah English and Helen Volk.
Howden, then 22, was teaching at her old school in Bulawayo, Townsend High School, when the call to Moscow came. The excitement was tempered by doubt over whether she was strong enough.
“For the next six weeks I had to get up at 4am and got for weightlifting in the gym. Then I had to go to school to teach and during break time I would practise goal shooting. Then, after school, I would go over the road to the nearby race track and run until 9pm at night,” she says.
Howden made it to Moscow and was surprised by what she found. The streets were drab, the shop windows were empty and there were queues for food.
“It seemed that everything was in black, white or grey. We could go into our cafeteria at the Olympic village and order whatever we wanted, but outside people were suffering,” she says.
Security was tight at the Games, but for the team, who were all very young, it was a golden excursion, as well as a sporting event. Howden kept a scrapbook that tells the story of the entire trip; from the good luck cards before they went; to a program from the ballet; pictures of the Kremlin and even a photograph of Britain’s Steve Ovett on his victory lap, after winning his only Olympic gold medal in the 800 meters.
“We even bunked one night to go and see the Moscow underground. It is beautiful and the stations had chandeliers in them,”she says.
There was a huge crowd when the team touched down in Harare. Drum majorettes were on the tarmac and people packed the airport. In the crowd was 11-year-old Lindsey Carlisle on her father’s shoulders.
“The plane was late, but that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. When they came out we were all looking for the gold medals around their necks,” says Carlisle.
“The arrivals hall was full. I remember seeing the captain Ann Grant and we moved closer so I could touch her medal and I knew then what I wanted to do with my life. I turned to my dad and said I want one of those one day. He said I had better start working towards it.”
True to her word, Carlisle, who grew up in Zimbabwe, but was born in Johannesburg, became captain of the South African hockey team. She went to two Olympics, Sydney and Athens, but brought back no medals and could have been forgiven for being disappointed.
“I never really thought of it that way. Just going to the Olympics and being regarded as one of the best athletes in the world is good enough for me.”
Howden flew home to Bulawayo where schoolchildren had been bussed in from miles around to clap her through arrivals. In the months that followed, she replied to fan mail and autograph hunters from around the world and attended numerous functions and speaking engagements. In 1984, she moved from Bulawayo to South Africa, where she is married with two sons, and where she trains youngsters in hockey.
“I would like to go back to Moscow one day, just to see what it looks like. I am told it has changed,” she says.
“I have no regrets. The Olympics stood me in good stead and it taught me how to fight to the top and never give up.”
Golden words from a golden girl.

Tag: Olympic gold medal

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Nineteen New Olympic Covid-19 Cases Reported On Opening Ceremony Day Including Three Foreign Athletes

No Alcohol, No Autographs, No Cheers: Tokyo Olympics Organizers Unveil Rules For Spectators

The Quiet Olympian