A year after the flame should have been lit in Tokyo, on Friday the 23rd July the games of the 32nd Olympiad will finally get underway.

But, in the midst of a global pandemic, this will be an Olympics like no other before it. Athletes will have to fit covid testing into their training plans and the stadiums in Tokyo will be completely empty as the Japanese capital has once again entered a state of emergency.

On this week’s Agenda with Stephen Cole, we consider what kind of a games we can expect, and whether it might have been a better idea to postpone the Olympics for another year, or even cancel them – something that hasn’t happened since the Second World War.

Stephen speaks to Tatsuo Ogura - Director of International Communications from the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games about the decision to go ahead with the event in spite of the pandemic, and his hopes his city can still pull off an incredible sporting spectacle.

But not everyone is happy the games are going ahead - Dan Orlowitz, sports writer from the Japan Times, joins us to reflect the mood of the people of Tokyo ahead of what should have been a once in a lifetime event.

And Hugh Robertson, Chair of the British Olympic Association tells Stephen just how you prepare a nation’s athletes for the biggest sporting event in the world in the time of a global health crisis.

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