Members of the Australian softball team are excited to become the first group of Olympic athletes to arrive in Japan for the Tokyo Games when they touch down on Tuesday, despite concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in the host nation.
A total of 23 Aussie Spirit players and five staff will leave Australia on Monday before traveling to Ota in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, the following day for their pre-Olympic training camp.
Softball Australia CEO David Pryles told Kyodo News the athletes have "gone through the most stringent measures possible" to be able to enter Japan at a time when international travel has been severely restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.