Australia’s national women’s softball team on Tuesday became the first international competitors to arrive in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, a show of confidence in a beleaguered event that is struggling against a coronavirus outbreak and growing public opposition.
The 23 players and 10 staff members, all of whom have been vaccinated against Covid-19, landed at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo and were traveling to the city of Ota, where they will train before moving into the Olympic Village on July 17.
The team, known as the Aussie Spirit, must strictly limit its movements as Japan tries to contain a prolonged fourth wave of the coronavirus.