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Tokyo Olympics might allow you to take one, and only one, drink with you into sweltering stadiums

Casey Baseel Nov 16, 2019
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Organizing Committee considers relaxing rules for the Games during Japan’s always hot and humid summer.

With the Tokyo Olympics less than a year away, excitement continues to grow as the city gets ready to host the grandest spectacle in sports. Will the overseas attention usher in a new age of internationalism for Japan? Will newly reconfirmed Japanese citizen Naomi Osaka take home the gold in tennis? Will Mr. Sato’s wardrobe choices get him barred from the competition venues?

Right now, no one can say for sure, but one thing we know with absolute certainty is that the weather will be hot, humid, and extremely sweaty.

With the opening ceremony scheduled for July 24 and the closing for August 9, the Games coincide with some of the Japan’s most sweltering weather patterns. It’s not unusual for Tokyo temperatures to rise past 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in midsummer, and coupled with extremely high humidity, heatstroke is a serious concern, for both athletes and spectators. Keeping yourself hydrated is a must during a Japanese summer, but if you’re planning to bring your own water, sports drinks, or other beverages to an event, you’ll probably be limited as to how much you can take into the venue.

Japan’s Kyodo news organization reports that the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee will be allowing spectators to carry one, and only one, bottled beverage into venues for the Games. While this might seem like another senselessly strict regulation in the same vein as the Tokyo Olympics’ ban on fans posting videos they record on social media, it’s actually a relaxing of the regular rules. For security/anti-terrorism purposes, past Olympic venues have often banned any outside drinks, and so Tokyo allowing one per person is actually an unusually accommodating gesture.

Moreover, the Organizing Committee is reportedly also considering distributing free bottles of water to spectators once they’re inside the venue. This idea is still in the proposal stage, however, and would require the cooperation of the Coca-Cola Company, which has exclusive drinking water vending rights for the Tokyo Games.

It’s also worth noting that currently there appears to be no restriction on how big the allowed bottle can be, and if that’s the case, two-liter (67.6-ounce) bottles of water and sports drinks are available in just about every Japanese convenience store. There is, however, the chance that the Committee will cap the bottle size at 500 milliliter (the standard single-person size in Japan), so you might want to also consider one of those strange-looking hats Tokyo’s governor is pushing to keep the sun off of your head.

Source: Kyodo via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
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