Staff Reporter.
The celebration cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony ahead of the the first day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay at the J Village during the Tokyo Olympic Games torch relay on March 25, 2021 in Naraha, Fukushima, Japan. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
The Olympic torch relay has been cancelled on Tokyo’s streets, as fears over the spread of Covid-19 continue to plague the Games.
Starting Friday, public relay events in the city will be replaced with flame-lighting ceremonies streamed online – the latest setback for the event.
Only the leg in the remote Ogasawara islands, south of Tokyo, will go ahead as planned, officials said.
Tokyo 2020 is due to begin on 23 July despite public opposition.
People in Japan have taken to the streets in recent months calling for the Olympics to be cancelled or postponed, amid coronavirus fears.
The nationwide torch relay has faced numerous problems since it began in March – nearly half of the legs on the route have been disrupted.
Kyoto and Hiroshima also scrapped plans for the relay to go through public roads.
Video has also emerged of a woman attempting to extinguish the Olympic torch flame during the leg in Mito city by squirting a water pistol.
In a clip widely shared on social media, Kayoko Takahashi can be seen shooting water from a small plastic gun at a runner carrying the torch.
The 53-year-old was stopped by officials while she shouted: “No Olympics. Stop the games.”
Ms Takahashi was arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business. According to Japanese media reports, she has admitted to the allegations.
Noriaki Nagatsuka, a deputy police chief in Mito, told Vice News: “You can’t shoot water at people for no good reason. She clearly wasn’t playing around – this isn’t child’s play.”