Sapporo's Olympic marathon course has been approved by World Athletics and a test event has been scheduled for May, organizers for the postponed Tokyo Games announced Friday after meeting with officials from the city and Hokkaido.
The Olympic marathon and race walking events were shifted to Sapporo, the largest city on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, to avoid Tokyo's summer heat and humidity.
The marathon test event will be held on May 5, and will consist of a corporate half marathon and a 10-km race open to around 2,500 members of the public.
"The course's confirmation is a big step forward," said Yasuo Mori, the deputy executive director of the games operations bureau. "The test event is also an important process ahead of the Olympics."
In addition to the marathon test event, organizers announced that two other test events have been scheduled, for wheelchair rugby on April 3 and 4 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium, and para athletics on May 11 at National Stadium. Those were the last three test events to be scheduled.
Olympic race walking will be held Aug. 5 and 6, and the marathons on the following two days. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to start on July 23.