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Going ahead with the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to open on July 23, reflects not so much a decision as the lack of one.    © Illustration by Hiroko Oshima
The Big Story

Athletes upstaged by political drama as Japan's COVID Olympics open

Strict regime of isolation, masks and testing has not prevented outbreaks

FRANCESCA REGALADO and RURIKA IMAHASHI, Nikkei staff writers | Japan

TOKYO -- A two-decade career and five years of waiting will all come down to one day for Hidilyn Diaz.

The 30-year-old weightlifter, who won the Philippines' only Olympic medal at the last Summer Games in Rio, was looking to upgrade her silver to gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games, winning a first-ever gold for her homeland. But in March last year, when the Japanese prime minister announced the Games would be postponed, Diaz was devastated.

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