Tokyo 2020: Olympic marathon could be moved to 3am to combat heat

The IOC announced a plan to move the race to Sapporo earlier this month

Tokyo, host of the 2020 Olympic Games Olympic Games, is considering proposing to start the marathon and race walking events as early as 3am to counter an IOC decision to move the races to Sapporo due to worries about heat.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a plan to move the marathon and race walking to Sapporo, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, from originally planned courses in the capital.

News agency Kyodo, citing unnamed sources, said Tokyo is looking into an alternative plan to have the races start at 3am or 5am to keep them in the city.

An official at the Tokyo metropolitan government's Olympic preparation bureau told Reuters he was not aware of such a plan.

Yoshiro Mori, the president of Tokyo 2020 Olympics, said the city had little choice but to accept the IOC plan, but Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike believes the races should be held in Tokyo.

"We have made many preparations and there's no change in my thinking that it should be held in Tokyo," she told reporters last week.