Waiting for Tokyo: How 110,000 Olympic volunteers put their lives on hold

A screen displays an online gathering with volunteers for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan July 2020. Picture taken in July 2020. Nippon Foundation Volunteer Support Centre/Handout via REUTERS

TOKYO - More than 110,000 Olympic volunteers had their dream summer all mapped out for 2020. But now, with the Games postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and for many still in doubt, they are left waiting in limbo, lives on hold.

Hiromi Yamamura and others had hoped to make friends from around the globe in an experience of a lifetime. Instead, the unsung backbone of any Olympics - its corps of volunteers - has had to recalibrate lives, put vacations or returns to home countries on hold and seek out part-time jobs in Japan so they are still free to volunteer.