Schedule for endurance events at Tokyo 2020 Olympics finalized

The schedule and location for the endurance events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was announced today at the IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. These events will take place at Sapporo Odori Park in Hokkaido, 800 kilometres north of Tokyo, between August 6 and August 9, due to its slightly cooler climate–a decision that remains controversial.

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The women’s and men’s marathons will take place on successive days, the women’s on August 8 at 7 a.m. local time and the men’s on August 9, the final day of the Games, also at 7 a.m. (Male marathoners will then be flown back to Tokyo for the closing ceremonies later that day.) The 20K and 50K race walk events will be held on August 6 and 7.

The revised schedule is as follows:

6 August/4.30pm Men’s 20km race walk

7 August/5.30am Men’s 50km race walk

7 August/4.30pm Women’s 20km race walk

8 August/7.00am Women’s marathon

9 August/7.00am Men’s marathon https://t.co/6p4BeA8cVl

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) December 4, 2019

Sapporo Odori Park, a 7.8-hectare space in the centre of Sapporo, has been used for the Hokkaido Marathon, so local authorities have considerable experience with hosting endurance events there. The first half of the marathon will consist of a 20K loop, with the remainder of the route to be finalized later this month.

Sapporo was the site of the 1972 Winter Olympic Games.