Day and after day of 90 plus degree heat and high humidity has forced organizers to reschedule rugby matches and mountain biking competitions, and move some track and field events to early morning hours or dusk to avoid the roasting afternoon sun.
, are contending with another obstacle largely beyond their control: a heat wave.
“It turns out that she couldn’t stand a whole day out in the heat,” coach Stanislav Popov told reporters at the archery range while Gomboeva’s teammates placed bags of ice on her head to cool her down. The heat "definitely can take its toll on all of us, even the fittest people in the world," NBC News senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres said., the Tokyo Games are forecast to be the hottest on record, NBC News meteorologist Kathryn Prociv said.Compared to 1964, which was the last time Japan hosted the Summer Olympics, the July and August temperatures in Tokyo are 2.
“We adapt to the heat and humidity through what’s called thermoregulation, our body's ability to cool itself off,” Torres said. “For these athletes, they will have strong thermoregulation systems, but during their event, when they are pushing themselves to the limit of their abilities, their body doesn’t have the reserves it normally does to cool them off.”
“In the 1912 marathon, Francisco Lázaro of Portugal collapsed from overheating and died the following morning,” Wallechinsky said in an email to NBC News, adding that 23,000 people attended a memorial service for him in the Olympic Stadium in the host city of Stockholm in Sweden, where heat waves are rare.
However, it means there is unlikely to be a repeat of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games when hundreds of spectators were treated for heatstroke.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Olympic Games Opens With Modified Pomp in COVID-Struck TokyoThe Olympic Games got underway a year late and after much rethinking – not to mention behind the scene drama and protests — on Friday in Tokyo. Its opening ceremony, without spectators …
Read more »
Here’s How Many U.S. Olympic Athletes Aren’t Vaccinated Against COVID-19What to know about Team USA's vaccination rate.
Read more »
Georgia family mourns 'most loving, joyous' 5-year-old boy who died from Covid-19A family in Georgia is mourning after a 5-year-old boy -- described as someone who had 'nothing but pure love' -- died just days after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Read more »
Column: Ivermectin, another bogus COVID treatment, becomes a darling of conspiracy-mongersThe drug hydroxychloroquine has pretty much fallen off the front pages, but it has been supplanted by another treatment claimed to be spectacularly effective despite an utter lack of scientific evidence.
Read more »
Covid-19 Forced More Americans to Juggle Working From Home and Child CareThe percentage of employed people working from home nearly doubled in 2020, to 42%, from 22% in 2019, according to a new survey from the Labor Department. More workers were also multitasking, doing their jobs while taking care of their families.
Read more »