Tokyo Olympics to Allow Spectators at Summer Games

TOKYO—The Summer Olympics in Tokyo will include up to 10,000 Japanese spectators at each event, organizers said, even as new headaches emerged over the imposition of pandemic protocols for athletes from hard-hit countries.

Monday’s decision—which came despite advice by leading doctors that the Games would be safer without crowds—clears up the final major uncertainty about the Games ahead of the opening ceremony on July 23. Officials said in March that foreign spectators wouldn’t be permitted to travel to Japan to attend the Olympics.

But it also comes as organizers try to respond to the imminent arrival of delegations from countries where the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is already the dominant strain.

Guidelines released by the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers said venues could be filled up to 50% capacity, with a maximum of 10,000 spectators at each event. Plans could change if infections in Japan rise sharply, they said.

“If the situation becomes very dire, we would have to hold the Games without spectators,” Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said.