Aug 03 (Kyodo) - Organizers of the Tokyo Games announced the schedule for the Paralympics on Monday, with only minor changes to the plan that was in place before the coronavirus pandemic forced a one-year postponement.
The Paralympic opening ceremony will be held on Aug. 24 next year in the Japanese capital, with 539 events scheduled across 22 sports over the 12 competition days until the closing ceremony on Sept. 5.
As with the Olympics, organizers had been seeking to secure the same venues and schedule as would have been used this summer in order to streamline the reorganization and minimize logistical complications caused by the unprecedented delay.
The Olympics were originally slated to begin on July 24 of this year, followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25. Only small adjustments were made to next year's revised schedule, such as the order and start times of some competitions.
Fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in Japan -- prompted in part by recent record daily increases in Tokyo -- have again raised concerns about holding the games amid the pandemic.
