FILE PHOTO: Shinichiro Sekozawa, 89, a pensioner and former captain of a cargo ship, poses for a portrait as he visits the Sugamo district, an area popular with the Japanese elderly, in Tokyo. Sekozawa remembers the 1964 Games fondly and hopes the 2020 Olympics will take place - although he thinks they're too expensive. "It's fun to watch sports, to see all the athletes trying hard in competition," he said. "The smiles on their faces when they win give all of us energy." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - The Olympics may be going ahead, but much of the celebration and connection that normally makes hosting the Games so memorable is being stripped away as almost 50 cities have lost their role as a host or training camp base.
More than 70% of those were cancelled by the visiting delegations, fearful of COVID-19 risks and restrictions amid Japan's poor vaccination numbers, shrinking the Games into a Tokyo bubble.
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