The pandemic affected almost every part of the Tokyo Olympics, forcing a historic postponement, a ban on almost all spectators, and ending the dreams of more than a few athletes.
At the end of the Games, AFP looks at some questions and answers about how concerns about the virus developed during the pandemic Olympics.
From July 1 to Sunday, the last day of the Games, Tokyo 2020 says it identified 430 positive cases in a population of 52,000 foreign participants and athletes and many more Japanese volunteers and security.
Most of the positive cases were among residents of Japan, mainly staff or contractors, with 29 athletes and 25 members of the media also testing positive.
There was a so-called “group”, in the Greek artistic swimming team. The 12 members were isolated in the second week of the Games after five members tested positive.
Outside of the Olympic bubble, Japan hit new virus records, with the capital accounting for a large chunk of the numbers.
Cases were already on the rise before the Games, and Tokyo has been in a state of emergency for weeks.
But the explosive growth, fueled by the more contagious Delta variant, has worried experts in a country where only about a third of the population is fully vaccinated.
Japan recorded just over 15,200 deaths during the pandemic.
The virus regulations meant that athletes who tested positive were unable to continue in the Games.
And some saw their Olympic journey end even before it began.
Former US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and tennis star Coco Gauff tested positive before leaving for the Games.
And others such as the Chilean taekwondo athlete Fernanda Aguirre were discarded after a post-test at the airport.
Some athletes were already on the ground and training when they received the news, including pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, who withdrew from the Games.
But the cases had no major effect on the events, and none were canceled or moved as a result.
There was little protest from the teams that were forced to withdraw the athletes from the competition.
But the rules on isolation for those who tested positive did cause some controversy.
Members of the Dutch hotel quarantine team went on “strike” over the lack of fresh air in the rooms, gaining 15 minutes a day at an open window.
Dutch taekwondo fighter Reshmie Oogink described the quarantine as an “Olympic prison.”
For the most part, teams played by the rules and carried on with their sport, but there were some notable exceptions.
Members of the Georgia judo team had their Olympic passes taken away after a .Infobarcelona.cat Brief news.
