TOKYO, Japan, Jul 22 – As visitors cope with effects of COVID-19, Kenyan athletes who jetted in for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have had to contend with rising temperatures of the brutal Japanese summer.
Kenyan beach volleyballer Brackcedes Agala aka Blackie and his Coach Sammy Mulinge said they found the situation quite tough and this is as a result of heat and humidity that descends on the Japanese capital after the rainy season.
“The heat is to much and it’s so sunny here, this is the situation we are in, the is the weather conditions of beach volleyball so we have to adapt quickly,” Agala said during the first training at the Shiokaze park training venue in Tokyo.
On her part, Gaudencia Makokha, who is the other player in the team voiced, “The humidity here is so high! It’s crazy! we are trying to adjust, the most important thing is to sleep early and drink a lot of water, if we don’t do it, it will take a toll on us during competition.”
On Tuesday, the day the Kenyan Beach Volleyball team were in training, the temperatures were as high as 35°C.
Other Kenyan players who voiced their concerns about the heat are the Kenya women’s sevens team players.
“We have had a good opening session even as we try to acclimatize with the weather here. It is hot and humid but I believe the days we were in Kurume will be key for us to try and get used to everything here. We will definitely have to adapt with the weather because we are here to compete,” said skipper Philadelphia Olando told Capital Sport.
Her sentiments are shared by Sinaida Aura, who said, “One of the biggest attributes a sportsperson needs to have is adaptability and for us we have to adapt to the conditions here and be ready to compete.”
The hot weather has prompted the Kenya team bench to run one session a day instead of two to save the energy of the players ahead of the competition that starts on Friday here in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, for some of the players especially Rugby men (Shujaa) and sprinters, they said it’s an adaptable weather.
“The weather is not that bad, the boys are liking it, we thank the government and Olympics Kenya for getting us here early. The one week we spent in Kurume City helped us adapt well and the body is acclimatizing well ahead of Monday’s opener against USA,” experienced Shujaa player Willy Ambaka said.
“The boys are loving the weather, its sunny we ae getting used to it and we are getting our vibe going,” Jeff Oluoch remarked.
Other beach volleyballers, according to the Guardian of Britain, found the situation really challenging.
The beach volleyballers who were training at Shiokaze park complained that the sand was too hot for their feet, prompting staff to hose down the playing surface while athletes waited in the shade.
Olympic organisers have introduced measures they say will protect athletes from the worst effects of the heat, including cooling tents, mist fans and ice cream for volunteers.
The forecast was not unexpected, and the games have already been dubbed “the rings of fire”, after a report in May suggested the climate crisis and Japan’s hot summers could combine, with athletes forced to endure conditions “too hostile” for the human body to function at its best.
Tokyo’s average temperature has risen by 2.9C since 1900, more than three times faster than the global average rise.
When the games open on Friday, temperatures of 31C are expected, and they are then expected to hover around the 30C mark over the following week, with high levels of humidity and electrical storms forecast.
Rain is expected later in the week as tropical storm In-Fa is forecast to turn into a typhoon on Tuesday night.
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Tokyo, Japan-