A test event for the Olympic marathon in Sapporo is now due to take place during the Hokkaido-Sapporo Marathon Festival on May 5

The confirmation of the date is among updates made to the calendar of test events by Tokyo 2020.

Olympic marathons and walking races are being held in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, because of concerns over the heat in Tokyo.

The test race will be organised by the Hokkaido-Sapporo Marathon Festival Committee.

This race on May 5 will test the course for the Games.

World Athletics officials visited the marathon course on August 8, exactly one year prior to the men’s marathon race at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Air quality, heat stress, temperature and relative humidity were all measured as the officials cycled the route, and World Athletics said it was encouraged by the results.

A Para-athletics test event for track and field has also been given a date, and is now set to take place on May 11 at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

Wheelchair rugby's test event has also been confirmed, and is scheduled for April 3 and 4 at Yoyogi National Stadium.

An artistic swimming test event is the first scheduled in 2021, due to run from March 4 to 7 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

The final test event is currently set to be for 3x3 basketball at Aomi Urban Sports Park from May 14 to 16.

Test events for skateboarding, gymnastics and volleyball, plus track and BMX cycling, are all scheduled as well.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are due to take place from July 23 to August 8 in 2021 following their postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Paralympics are timetabled to run from August 24 to September 5.

posted Saturday December 12th
by Michael Houston