Press Report: 2020 Olympics will be the hottest in history

So you're telling me that people who can't accurately predict what time it will stop raining today can predict how hot it will be during a two week period 3+ years from now?

This is a tangent, but it's easier to predict trends rather than specific moments. For instance, a guy running 80 miles a week runs more than a guy running 40 miles a week, but on a given day, the 40 mpw guy might be running 10 miles, and the 80 mpw guy might only run 8. Using the same principle, Tokyo in the summer is generally warmer than Rio in the winter or Tokyo in October. There's still that chance that it's a cold snap, but it's unlikely.

The heck? wrote:

This is a tangent, but it's easier to predict trends rather than specific moments. For instance, a guy running 80 miles a week runs more than a guy running 40 miles a week, but on a given day, the 40 mpw guy might be running 10 miles, and the 80 mpw guy might only run 8. Using the same principle, Tokyo in the summer is generally warmer than Rio in the winter or Tokyo in October. There's still that chance that it's a cold snap, but it's unlikely.

The Rio games were during Brazil's winter basically.

Let the Japanese construct a gigantic air conditioned facility. If it can be done for football, it can be done for track.

He will break 144 wrote:

Let the Japanese construct a gigantic air conditioned facility. If it can be done for football, it can be done for track.

Exactly. All they need is a domed stadium like many football stadiums in the U.S.

Hotter the better, RUPP will place guaranteed now.

the marathon especially and distance events on the track will be brutal.

Most athlete have never raced in these kinds of conditions because no one would host a meet with these kinds of dew points. Beijing got lucky as the dew point the morning of the race was in the low 60's (which is downright nice)....we are talking about dew points consistently in the mid 70's for the marathon...that is beyond brutal. The winners will not even break 2:10....they may not even break 2:15...if the sun is out. the only way they should even consider running this race is if they start it well before sunrise.

I run in the afternoon summer heat and the difference between 60, 65, 70 and 75 dew point is huge

60 = fine...no problem

65 = starting to feel it (it will slow you down) but you can manage it

70 = going to hurt (the longer you go the worse it will get)

75 = on the borderline of dangerous condition...I would normally cut my long run in half on these day because you lose so much fluid there is no way to replace it quickly enough. The pace will also be much slower

80 = if the dew pts reach this level they should not hold the race....if I were the meet director I would either move it to a different day or make it a half marathon...there will be lawsuits and heat stoke cases if they even tried to run it.

look at this day for example: if this were race day - forget it!

The best thing they could do is actually move the marathon to a less humid climate - fly them North as far as needed to find better weather!

Heat, or humidity? I was in Tokyo in August 2013 when it was like 95 (a bit more than normal), which is bad enough, but the humidity was also ridiculous.

Isn't it the equivalent of holding the Olympics in South Carolina in August and being surprised it's hot?

Well, what were conditions like in Seoul 1988 or Atlanta 1996?

The 2007 World Championships marathon was won in just under 2:16 and 2:17 for silver and bronze

"People don't really think of Tokyo and heat".

Really? I think slmost anyone who's been to or watched any outdoor sporting event in the Asian Pacific Rim in the summer knows that it's very hot and humid.

rojo wrote:

This is something I haven't seen reported anywhere else....

A very good point. Why did they pick these dates? I had naively assumed they would be in September, but it's last week of July and first of August, with T/F presumably all in August.

I lived, trained and raced through 3 summers in Japan and can confirm it's not a great climate for running at that time. We could just about handle the Tokyo Hash House Harriers, with some fartlek and a lot of cold beer at about 8pm, but would be drenched in sweat even jogging.

The rainy season is June, and in some ways that's the worst because if it isn't actually raining, it's a white haze and on the edge of it. Humidity drops throughout the summer; September is really nice, and October is the perfect month for running with blue skies and perfect temperatures to be outdoors.

Expect well-funded teams to organise themselves training/holding camps in the hills somewhere up in the North Island, and fly down to compete. Either that or massive air conditioned gyms with treadmills.

Spectators will require a lot of cold beer, which fortunately is widely available.

Authorities only care about sprints.

The real reason Paula DNF'd Olympics is the heat it's a farce.

The heat in Tokyo and Hong Kong in summer seriously does effect your cardiac output if you are not accustomed to it. It can take months to return to normal afterwards.

So the Olympic chicks will be the hottest in history?