Tokyo Olympics

Olympic Archery Matches Delayed by Threat of Storm Heading Toward Japan

It’s the first time the Olympic archery schedule has been majorly influenced by weather

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The Olympic archery schedule has been altered for Tuesday due to expected high wind and rain from a forecasted typhoon.

The morning sessions involving first- and second-round matches are officially delayed until noon local time at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field. But the afternoon session has been postponed.

The plan is to make up the matches Wednesday and Thursday. The individual finals for the men and women at the Tokyo Games are still scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

It’s the first time the Olympic archery scheduled has been majorly influenced by weather, according to World Archery. At the 2008 Beijing Games, there was an hour delay.

Tropical Storm Nepartak formed in the Philippine Sea, southeast of Japan and just north of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, a forecasting center in Hawaii operated by the U.S. Navy.

As of Sunday afternoon (in New York), the JTWC said that the storm had sustained winds of 40 mph, and could bring similar winds to Japan on Monday or Tuesday, as it makes landfall north of Tokyo.

Path of Tropical Storm Neparatak
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
The anticipated path of Tropical Storm Nepartak as of Sunday, July 25, 2021 at noon ET.

There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the storm, including its path and intensity. The JTWC said that the storm's path will become much clearer after it makes an expected turn to the northwest. Until then, the storm's track won't be certain, but the forecasted intensity of the storm will likely remain the same.

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Sports that are most at risk of being impacted include any in the water, including surfing, rowing and sailing. Depending on the intensity of the storm, indoor events could be at risk as well, as a powerful enough storm with strong winds and rain could lead to power outages from downed trees and wires, as well as flash flooding.

Several rowing events were moved forward a day in anticipation of the storm.

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