Abstract
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be held in July and August. As these are the hottest months in Tokyo, the risk of heat stress to athletes and spectators in outdoor sporting events is a serious concern. This study focuses on the marathon races, which are held outside for a prolonged time, and evaluates the potential heat stress of marathon runners using the COMFA (COMfort FormulA) Human Heat Balance (HBB) Model. The study applies a four-step procedure: (a) measure the thermal environment along the marathon course; (b) estimate heat stress on runners by applying COMFA; (c) identify locations where runners may be exposed to extreme heat stress; and (d) discuss measures to mitigate the heat stress on runners. On clear sunny days, the entire course is rated as ‘dangerous’ or ‘extremely dangerous’, and within the latter half of the course, there is a 10-km portion where values continuously exceed the extremely dangerous level. Findings illustrate which stretches have the highest need for mitigation measures, such as starting the race one hour earlier, allowing runners to run in the shade of buildings or making use of urban greenery including expanding the tree canopy.
Highlights
Heat stress from summer heat is expected to be a significant issue at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics [1].In recent years, temperatures have risen in the world’s major cities due to both climate change and the urban heat island effect, as caused by the increased longwave radiation from road and building surfaces [2]
As Tokyo is located in a temperate zone and has a humid climate, its summers are hot and humid; the Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held in July and August in central Tokyo, where the average maximum daily temperature reaches above 30 ◦ C and the average relative humidity reaches over 70%
This study focuses on the scheduled marathon course for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Summary
Heat stress from summer heat is expected to be a significant issue at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics [1]. Temperatures have risen in the world’s major cities due to both climate change and the urban heat island effect, as caused by the increased longwave radiation from road and building surfaces [2]. These factors have led to an intensification of health hazards posed by heat stress [3,4]. Kashimura et al [18] measured the thermal environment on the marathon course over three days with a Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index meter These studies only investigated thermal conditions and did not assess the potential negative effects of high metabolic activities. FormulA) human heat budget model [19,20,21], and proposes strategies for improving microclimate conditions on the marathon course to mitigate the heat load and the potential heat stress to runners
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