Tokyo Paralympics to Start Tues. amid Virus Resurgence

Tokyo, Aug. 23 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo Paralympic Games will begin Tuesday night, while the novel coronavirus crisis is showing no signs of abating. The opening ceremony will start at 8 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT) without live spectators at the Japan National Stadium in the Japanese capital. Together with the Tokyo Olympics, which ended earlier this month, the Paralympics were delayed by one year due to the pandemic, an unprecedented postponement. The Tokyo Paralympics will bring together athletes from 161 countries and regions, including Russian independent competitors and refugee team members. The Games' sporting events will begin Wednesday. The venues will be in Tokyo, the neighboring prefectures of Chiba and Saitama, and Shizuoka Prefectures, also not far from Tokyo. By the closing ceremony on Sept. 5, 539 events in 22 sports categories will have been held. The Japanese team has 254 athletes, a record high for the country, aiming to win 20 gold medals. The biggest problem during the Games will be how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially as some Paralympians have underlying conditions that increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms. The Games organizers decided to have no general spectators at all venues in principle in a bid to prevent coronavirus infections from spreading. END