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Men’s tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia wipes sweat from his brow during his match against Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien. (AP/Yonhap News)

The scorching heat in Tokyo amid the Summer Olympics is turning into a fearsome foe alongside the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a heat index in the range of 38 to 39 degrees Celsius (100-102 degrees Fahrenheit), the island nation of Japan’s particularly hot and humid climate is having a direct impact as a number of athletes have collapsed during their competitions.

The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported Sunday that 540 people under Tokyo Fire Department jurisdiction had been taken to the hospital with suspected heatstroke between July 1 and 18. The number is already higher than the 393 recorded during the entire month of July last year — a figure that shows just how intense the Tokyo heat has been.

The Olympic athletes have been complaining about having to compete under these conditions. According to the NHK network, men’s tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic — who is looking to continue his journey to a “Golden Grand Slam” with four major titles plus an Olympics in one calendar year — asked to have matches delayed until the evening, says that conditions were “too hot and humid” after completing his first match on Saturday.

Temperatures reached a high of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) that day with little wind.

The No. 2 men’s tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, also said that tennis matches should be held in the afternoon to protect the athletes, saying the extreme heat and humidity were “some of the worst” that he’s faced.

Some competitors have passed out from the heat. During the women’s archery ranking round at Tokyo’s Yumenoshima Park Archery Field on July 23, Russian athlete Svetlana Gomboeva, 23, briefly fainted.

The temperature in Tokyo that day was 33 degrees Celsius, with a heat index of 38 degrees Celsius. Gomboeva is ranked 13th in the world but finished in 45th place among 64 competitors that day.

The CNN network predicted this year’s Tokyo Olympics could go down as the hottest in history. In an interview with the Japanese edition of Forbes, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) official said, “We’re taking the concerns about the heat very seriously.”

“We’re working on measures to reduce the impact on the athletes,” the official added.

In an interview with the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, Hideto Tanaka, a Yokohama National University professor and expert on sports and heat-related illness, said, “If the high temperatures and humidity continue, it could end up being a dangerous environment for athletes even if there’s no heatstroke alert in effect.”

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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