The Tokyo Paralympics will open on Aug. 24. Nearly 4,400 Paralympians from about 170 countries and regions are expected to compete over the 12-day Paralympic Games from Aug. 25-Sept. 5.
Japan will be well-represented at the hometown games with its largest Paralympic delegation ever. A total of 460 people have been named to the national team, including support staff members and 252 athletes participating in 22 events.
Events are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Shizuoka, Chiba and Saitama prefectures.
The decision on whether to allow spectators at events has yet to be decided by the Tokyo metropolitan government, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo Games organizing committee, and others.
The Paralympic torch relay is set to commence Thursday and culminate on Aug. 20, when individual flames from all 47 prefectures are brought together into one torch.
Although the relay has been scheduled to pass through the four prefectures hosting events, Chiba and Saitama prefectures have already decided not to have torchbearers run on public roads due to the surge in novel coronavirus infections.
As of February last year, the Japanese Paralympic Committee had announced a goal of winning 20 gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Japan previously won a record 17 golds at both the 1988 Seoul Games and the 2004 Athens Games, but none at the 2016 Rio Games.
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