Fans from abroad have already been barred, and on Wednesday organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a decision on venue capacity — or if there will be any fans at all, or just empty venues — may not be made until June.
Football giants Brazil and Germany were paired in the same group (Group D) at the draw of the groups for the Tokyo Olympics in Zurich on Wednesday.
The vaccine rollout in Japan has been very slow with less than 1 per cent vaccinated, causing concern about the postponed Tokyo Olympics that are scheduled to open in just over three months.
The top eight finishers in the World Relays on May 1 and 2 at Chorzow in Selisia will get automatic berths in the Tokyo Games, which is scheduled to begin on July 23.
Considering the grim situation of the pandemic, the NRAI is keen that its athletes are vaccinated soon.
Speaking at a virtual webinar organised to mark the 100 days countdown to the Tokyo Games, Mehta stressed that the safety of the Olympic-bound athletes is paramount.
Rijiu said the government has provided all possible support to the country's athletes in preparation for the Olympics, and it is now their job to make the Games a "memorable" one for India.
India had won the last of their eight Olympic gold medals in the 1980 Moscow Olympics before the team endured a sharp slide in its fortunes.
Asian Games 1500m gold-medallist Jinson Johnson, long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary, steeplechaser Chinta Yadav and another race walker Eknath are among the five athletes who have been infected.
It came on the same day that the government said new coronavirus cases in Osaka hit 1,099, a single-day record for Japan's second largest metropolitan area.
The 25-year-old Odisha sprinter is one of the key runners in national women's 4x100m relay squad shortlisted for next month's World Relays, an Olympic qualification competition, in Poland.
The project will provide an experience of what it looks like to compete as a top-level athlete, covering all 55 disciplines on the Tokyo Olympics programme.
Japan's national vaccination drive has lagged and most people in the capital still have not been inoculated as infections have surged.
It is also the first time that India will compete in three sailing events in the Olympics.
Saravanan, who was third till the penultimate day on Wednesday, won the medal race on Thursday to jump to second place overall and book a Tokyo Olympics quota.
The 23-year-old Kumanan has a 21-point advantage over her nearest rival, who also happens to be an Indian -- Ramya Saravanan -- in the Laser Radial Class event with one race to go on Thursday.
The move is a setback for Tokyo organisers, who began the relay two weeks ago from northeastern Fukushima prefecture with 10,000 runners planning to crisscross Japan over the course of four months.
The judoka tested positive after landing in Kyrgyzstan for the Asia-Oceania Championships in Bishkek started on Tuesday and will end on Saturday.
Apart from Chopra and fellow Olympic bound javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, country's relay racers (both 4x100m and 4x400m men and women) will be part of the 40-odd contingent that also includes coaches.
The reports said technical officials were unable to go to Japan because of strict procedures to enter the country.
Top News
Latest News
