Athletes are seen cooling themselves with ice and water while running at around the 15-kilometer mark during the men's marathon at the Tokyo Olympic Games in Sapporo on Aug. 8, 2021. (Pool photo)

       TOKYO -- Thirty of the 106 competitors in the Tokyo Olympic men's marathon on the Games' final day pulled out of the race. The event started and ended at Sapporo Odori Park in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. A relocation from Tokyo meant to beat the heat and where, despite concerns, temperatures did not reach 30 degrees Celsius during the race. So why were so many runners unable to finish?

       The marathon and race walking events were originally set for a course in the heart of Tokyo. But the punishing heat at the competitions in the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, capital of Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, led to numerous athletes pulling out midway through. Conscious of the shocking images of athletes collapsing and being carried away on stretchers beamed around the world, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) led changes to move the events to the more temperate Sapporo.

       According to IOC data, the temperature in Sapporo would be 5 to 6 C lower than in Tokyo during the Games. As it turned out, conditions in the Hokkaido capital were swelteringly hot this year, with consecutive days reaching highs of 30 C. Still, the mercury didn't top 30 C during the men's marathon; when it began at 7 a.m. it was 26 C, and the temperature was 28 C at the finish time.

       But humidity is also an important factor when considering the risk of heatstroke. At the start time, humidity in Sapporo was at 80% and remained at a high 72% at the finish. One Swiss athlete who pulled out mid-race said that he suspected the humidity had ended his run, that it was muggy on the streets. He appeared to have struggled under Japan's climate.

       Among the Japanese athletes, Yuma Hattori appeared to suffer spasms in his left thigh and was dragging his leg. At times he even stopped. Hattori was taken to a medical area in a wheelchair immediately after finishing, and later commented: "My core body temperature was over 40 C -- a symptom of very severe heatstroke."

       Masaaki Sugita, head of the Japan Association of Athletics Federation's Scientific Research Committee and a professor at Nippon Sport Science University earlier explained: "When humidity is high then sweat cannot dry and the body temperature does not fall, making it more likely a person will become dehydrated."

       Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, training camps ahead of the Games could not be held, and many athletes were delayed coming to Japan. It appears they only had a short time to acclimatize to Japan's summer humidity.

       But the reasons for pulling out vary by athlete, and it is possible they were injured. Additionally, an individual connected to the athletics events said, "With sights set on the next prize-money race, there are many pro runners who give up early in the race if they're going to have trouble making the top positions, and switch their focus to the next race."

       (Japanese original by Yuta Kobayashi, Sports News Department)

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