Tokyo 2020 reschedules women's soccer final after concerns voiced over heat

Tokyo 2020 organising committee spokesperson Masa Takaya defended the committee's decision to schedule the women's soccer finals near midday even amid Japan's sweltering midsummer heat.

"We believe we made the best judgment at that point in time when we were deciding the Games schedules" said Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya, citing sports and athlete visibility in the Games as factors in making that decision at the time.

Concerns from the Canadian and Swedish soccer teams about Tokyo's intense morning heat have resulted in the rescheduling and relocation of the women's Olympic final.

Rather than kicking off at 11 a.m. in the Olympic Stadium on Friday, the gold-medal match will start 10 hours later at 9 p.m. in Yokohama.

To avoid a clash with the women's final, the men's bronze-medal match between host Japan and Mexico was brought forward two hours to kick off at 6 p.m. in Saitama.

The weather has been hot and humid, with the temperature forecast to hit 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in Tokyo on Friday.

The women's final couldn't be delayed at the Olympic Stadium because the venue is being used for track and field, so organizers shifted it to the Yokohama stadium which is also hosting the men's final on Saturday night.

The original morning kickoff in Tokyo was well-placed for primetime audiences on Thursday night in the United States. But the U.S. women's team lost to Canada in the semifinals and had to settle for bronze.