While Hanyu finished just off the podium in fourth with a 283.21 total, Japan still had reason to celebrate at Capital Indoor Stadium after 18-year-old Olympic debutant Yuma Kagiyama claimed silver with 310.05 points, while compatriot Shoma Uno scored 293.00 to take bronze.

Nathan Chen of the United States competes in the men's figure skating free skate 
at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium 
in Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Nathan Chen of the United States is pictured after completing his free skate at 
the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium 
in Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan competes in the men's figure skating free skate at the 
Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in 
Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

“This silver medal is packed with everything I’ve been putting in over the past few years while having the Olympics as my dream,” said Kagiyama, who became just the third person after Hanyu and Chen to receive more than 200 free skate points by scoring 208.94 in the team event.

“Unlike the team event and the short program, I got nervous in these games for the first time, knowing that this free skate was the final performance here.”

Aiming to become the first three-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist in 94 years, Hanyu came into Thursday’s free skate ranked eighth following an uncharacteristic mishap in the short program two days earlier, when he caught a hole in the ice and popped his initial quad salchow attempt.

The 27-year-old superstar, who received the loudest cheers of the day inside the sparsely filled arena, scored 188.06 for his free skate to total well below his personal best of 322.59.

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu acknowledges applause after performing in 
the men's free skate at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the 
Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

He under-rotated his opening quadruple axel attempt, falling to the ice and failing to become the first skater to land the jump in competition. He also fell attempting a quad salchow but hit two other quad jumps and two triple axels during his routine.

“Honestly, I did everything within my power,” said Hanyu, who missed half the season with ankle ligament damage and has spent much of the period between Olympics battling injuries. “There’s a part of me that feels (the podium) was within reach, but all you saw is all I’ve got.”

“Of course not making a mistake is important and I understand that’s the only way to win but in a way, those two early mistakes completed my (free skate) program. I tried really hard and I don’t think I could’ve done more.”

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu poses at the end of his free skate at the 
Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in 
Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu bows after performing his free skate at the 
Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in 
Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Pyeongchang silver medalist Uno, who was third after the short program, garnered 187.10 for his polished free skate. He missed a quad flip but stuck four other quad jumps, including a quad toe loop-double toe loop combination.

“I’m very happy to have performed at the Olympics after so many things happening in the past four years and managing to come third,” said the 24-year-old, who also won team bronze.

“My (performance) level will rise if I continue with these components and training, and I believe it might be possible even to compete in the position where Nathan is right now.”

Shoma Uno of Japan competes in the men's figure skating free skate at the 
Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in 
Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

(From L) Silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, gold medalist Nathan Chen of 
the United States and bronze medalist Shoma Uno of Japan wave during the awards 
ceremony for the men's figure skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 
2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Germany cycling coach Patrick Moster has been sent back home from the Toyko Olympics after he made a racist remark during the men’s road time trial on Wednesday.

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The capital confirmed 3,177 COVID-19 cases, hitting a record for the second straight day and pushing up the nationwide tally to exceed the previous all-time high of 7,958 set Jan. 8, as hospitals come under increasing strain.

The surge in infections comes as the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus spreads and people in Tokyo tire of restrictions under a state of emergency.

The record high was reported just a day after Tokyo logged 2,848 daily COVID-19 cases, exceeding the previous record of 2,520 cases on Jan. 7.

The virus has spread rapidly elsewhere, with the nationwide tally of daily infections that was below 2,000 in early July surpassing 4,000 one week ago, 5,000 on Thursday and 7,000 on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the daily count for the entire country reached 9,583, bringing the cumulative total to nearly 900,000, while Tokyo’s neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba also all reported record single-day highs at 1,051, 870 and 577, respectively.

Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases has estimated that the Delta variant is now responsible for about 70 percent of infections in the metropolitan area.

Olympic organizers have pledged to implement adequate COVID-19 countermeasures for a “safe and secure” games, and stressed that the number of infections among athletes and others associated with the sporting extravaganza is very low.

Suga has denied the possibility of canceling the Olympics, which opened Friday without spectators at almost all venues, and said that “there is no worry” as people are expected to move around less.

But Takaji Wakita, head of the national institute, who also leads the health ministry’s COVID-19 countermeasures advisory panel, warned at a press conference Wednesday that “the spread of infections (over this one week in the country) is something never experienced before.”

The capital’s seven-day rolling average of cases has risen to 1,954.7 per day, up 53 percent from the previous week.

The government has placed Tokyo under a fourth state of emergency, which mostly relies on a cooperative public and does not entail a hard lockdown like some countries have imposed, from July 12 to Aug. 22.

Still, some restaurants and bars have ignored calls to stop serving alcohol and close early as the government has lagged in handing out “cooperation money” meant to help them cover lost revenue.

Many people, especially younger ones less likely to be vaccinated, have grown weary of the restrictions and begun going outside more.

“How young people behave is key,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told the press on Wednesday, advising them to get their shots.

Of the 3,177 COVID-19 cases, 1,078 people in their 20s and 680 in their 30s tested positive, accounting for more than half of the total, according to the metropolitan government.

“The medical system has already started becoming more strained,” Shigeru Omi, Suga’s top COVID-19 adviser, said in a parliamentary hearing, calling on the government to “send out a message that gets across the sense of crisis they should be feeling and take countermeasures fitting of the current infection situation.”

The governors of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa will ask the central government, possibly Thursday, for their prefectures to be placed under the same state of emergency.

The government will “promptly consider such requests and make a decision,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference Wednesday.

Suga also met with members of his Cabinet including health minister Norihisa Tamura to discuss the current situation.

As early as Friday, the government will convene a meeting to decide on putting the three prefectures under the emergency, an official said.

Suggesting there are not many options for the government, a senior official at the prime minister’s office, said, “We have used almost all cards available by now.”

Meanwhile, the Olympic organizing committee said Wednesday that 16 more people linked to the games, none of them athletes, have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of this month to 169.

It is the first time in four days that the organizers have reported no COVID-19 positive cases of Olympic athletes.

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The organizing committee’s CEO Toshiro Muto, however, said it will consider allowing in foreign-based volunteers with skills necessary for the smooth running of the games under special entry rules.

Officials with knowledge of the planning said the exception could be made for around 500 volunteers, whose roles cannot easily be performed by somebody living in Japan, such as those who are capable of speaking minority languages.

“It’s very painful, but we have to decide on a shift,” Muto said at a press conference. “Delaying any further to make a decision will cause confusion.”

Muto said about 2,300 foreign nationals living abroad have been registered as volunteers.

The announcement came after the organizing bodies of the Tokyo Games, including the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, formally agreed Saturday that the global sporting event will be staged without overseas spectators due to public concern over the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Japanese organizing committee, foreign nationals made up roughly 10 percent of a total of 80,000 volunteers before the pandemic forced the one-year postponement of the games.

Japanese citizens living abroad are expected to be allowed to volunteer, according to the officials.

Holding an executive board meeting, the organizing committee also said Monday it will launch a program aimed at making Japanese society more diverse.

Under the program, tentatively called the declaration to aim for a society easy for everyone to live, the committee will set goals to promote respecting diversity.

The meeting was the first with its 12 new female members, including Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi and Paralympic Alpine skier Kuniko Obinata.

The new members brought the number of women on the 45-member board to 19, raising female participation to above the 40 percent target set by the committee’s new President Seiko Hashimoto, who succeeded Yoshiro Mori in February after he was forced to step down over sexist remarks.

“We want to lay the foundation to help trigger social changes in Japan after the Tokyo Olympics,” Takahashi told reporters following the meeting, during which gender equality was discussed among other issues.

Various measures being considered by the committee’s team tasked with promoting gender equality, led by its sports director Mikako Kotani, were explained at the meeting, including giving consideration to the balance of women and men presenting medals to athletes at the Tokyo Games in ceremonies.

It also decided to ban those entering competition venues from taking, sending or crafting images and movies of athletes that could be suspected of having sexual-harassment purposes.

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Mori sparked anger in Japan and abroad last Wednesday when he told an online session of the Japanese Olympic Committee that women tend to talk too much in meetings.

Photo taken in Tokyo shows instructors speaking to volunteers of the postponed 
Olympics and Paralympics during an online group training session on Oct. 28, 2020. 
Their training program resumed a week earlier, following a roughly eight-month 
hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.  (Kyodo)

The 83-year-old former prime minister apologized the following day but has resisted calls for his resignation.

While volunteers gave a variety of reasons for withdrawing, the sudden drop-off is an indication of the headache Mori’s remarks have caused for organizers.

Two people have also pulled out of the torch relay, while the organizing committee’s call center received around 350 phone calls and 4,200 emails in a five-day span following the comments.

The organizers aim to have around 80,000 volunteers for the games, which have been postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Bach on Wednesday said canceling the Summer Games will not be on the agenda during his four-day visit, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The discussions will most likely cover measures to hold the games safely, including the supply of vaccines to each country and region taking part in the games, sources familiar with the matter said.

Bach, who arrived on a chartered plane at Haneda Airport, is visiting Japan for the first time since the decision in March to postpone the games, originally scheduled for summer 2020, by one year.

He held a teleconference with Suga soon after the new Japanese prime minister’s appointment in September and expressed his desire to visit Japan as soon as possible.

Bach will also meet with Shinzo Abe, who was prime minister when Tokyo won the bid to host the 2020 Games and stepped down in September for health reasons. The IOC will present Abe with an award for his contributions to the Olympic Movement on Monday afternoon.

Bach is also scheduled to meet with Tokyo Games Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Monday. Bach and Mori will hold a joint press conference later in the day.

Bach’s itinerary also includes visits to the athletes’ village and the National Stadium on Tuesday.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is pictured at a hotel in 
Tokyo on Nov. 15, 2020. Bach will meet Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga the 
following day to discuss the postponed Tokyo Games amid the coronavirus pandemic. 
(Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Last month, the IOC and Japan’s organizers agreed to postpone the games, until July 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet on Wednesday, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, told the parliament that the Olympics will not happen, unless the coronavirus pandemic is contained by then.

His words came a day, after the president of the Japan Medical Association said, it would be difficult to run the rescheduled games without the emergence of an effective vaccine.

However, in the latest response, the IOC has played down suggestions about the vaccine, as John Coates, a senior member of the organization, insisted that the games going ahead were not reliant on the development of a vaccine in the next 15 months.

Japan and the IOC have also clashed over who will shoulder the additional costs of postponing the games, something which is estimated to be at least 3 billion dollars.

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The post Olympics: Coronavirus will not affect Tokyo Games schedule: Mori appeared first on News Agency nabakhabar.

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Organizers announced in July 2018 that Fukushima would be the starting point for the torch relay in the country. Last March, Yoshiro Mori, the organizing committee’s president, revealed that the relay would begin some 20 kilometers from the Fukushima plant at the J-Village national soccer training center, which was used as an operational base for handling the nuclear crisis.

The Olympic torch will arrive in Japan on March 20 and the flame will be taken to Ishinomaki Minamihama Tsunami Recovery Memorial Park in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

It will then travel by train through Miyagi and Iwate prefectures before making its way to Fukushima. The three prefectures were hit hardest by the powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

The Japan leg of the relay will begin on March 26, 2020, two weeks after the flame lighting ceremony in Greece, and will carry the torch across all 47 prefectures in the country over a period of 121 days.

The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held between July 24 and Aug. 9, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.

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