gold medal dominance and top the table as it has done at every Paralympics since Athens 2004, but host Japan will be hoping its record 254-strong team can repeat the country’s Olympic gold rush. Hanging over the sport however will be the ever-present shadow of the pandemic, which forced a year-long delay and at times appeared to threaten the event with cancellation.
After months of negative polls, Japanese public opinion on the Olympics shifted once the Games got under way. But the virus situation in Japan has worsened dramatically in the weeks since the Olympic opening ceremony, with the country recording more than 25,000 daily infections in the past week.
Japan’s outbreak remains comparatively small, with around 15,500 deaths so far, but just 40 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, insufficient to contain the fast-spreading Delta variant. The opening ceremony will come with Tokyo and 12 other regions under a virus state of emergency that largely limits the opening hours of bars and restaurants and bans them from selling alcohol.
Experts have warned that the measures do not seem to be working and tougher restrictions are needed, with some arguing that going ahead with the Games has undermined government messaging on the virus.
Paralympic athletes will be subject to the same rules as their Olympic counterparts, including daily testing, mandatory mask-wearing and limits on their movement. Almost all spectators will be barred from venues, though a school programme bringing children to some events is going ahead.
