Tokyo Olympics

The Pacific Mini Games are scheduled to take place in the Northern Marianas next June, having been delayed by 12 months because of the global pandemic.

With the infrastructure and accommodation already in place, officials are closely monitoring the Covid vaccine rollout across the region and the prospect of less border restrictions.

Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue believed the upcoming Olympics would be a major litmus test.

It is the first positive test connected to the relay since it began March 25 from northeastern Fukushima prefecture.

Organisers say the 30-year-old policeman was assigned to control traffic on the April 17 leg in southwestern Kagawa prefecture. They said the officer developed symptoms and tested positive the next day. Local health authorities are investigating.

Officials say the policeman was wearing a mask and taking social-distancing precautions and other measures.

The relay, due to reach Osaka in mid-April, is seen as the first major test of Games organisers' abilities to hold a large event under strict coronavirus curbs. It features 10,000 runners carrying the torch through all Japan's 47 prefectures.

The western metropolis of Osaka is grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases and the governor of Osaka prefecture has called for cancelling the leg that takes place in the city.

Athletes' families are also likely to be barred although organisers have yet to make a decision, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said.

Muto said the decision on volunteers was regrettable but that organisers wanted to decide now so there would not be confusion for those people overseas who were waiting for a decision.

Organisers decided at the weekend not to allow in foreign spectators during the Games and would refund some 600,000 Olympic tickets and another 30,000 Paralympic tickets purchased by overseas residents.

The 32-year-old currently plays as a safety and special teamer for the New York Giants and won three Super Bowls during his seven-year spell with the New England Patriots between 2012 and 2019.

It was also during his time with the Patriots, where he lined up alongside the legendary Tom Brady, when he dabbled with rugby, a sport he had previously represented the United States in at U19 and U20 levels.

The Summer Games are scheduled to begin on 23 July, after being delayed by 12 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee said vaccination is "encouraged" but not compulsory for athletes.

Guam, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, American Samoa, Australia and New Zealand have begun vaccination programs in recent months.

Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) President, Dr Robin Mitchell, said if athletes had the option of receiving the vaccine they should take it.

Women players will have a chance to warm up for Tokyo with back-to-back tournaments in Paris in May but the first men's event is not scheduled until October.

World Rugby announced that five women's and four men's rounds have been finalised, with the addition of two more men's events still under discussion.

After the Paris women's events on May 15-16 and May 22-23 the Series takes a break for the Olympic repechage in June - the final qualification event ahead of the Tokyo Games which begins on July 23.

Hashimoto, who competed in seven Summer and Winter Olympics as a cyclist and a skater, now faces a raft of tough issues at the helm of one of the world's biggest sporting events with less than half a year before its delayed start.

She must ensure athletes and officials are kept safe from the coronavirus, while also facing strong public opposition to the Games being held amid the pandemic.

Hashimoto announced her selection shortly after submitting her resignation as Olympics minister to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who encouraged her to make the Games successful.

Yoshiro Mori quit as committee president last week after saying that women talk too much, dealing another blow to an Olympic Games already marred by a year-long delay and strong public opposition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The panel will ask Hashimoto if she wants to take the position, NHK said.

"The selection panel is moving towards asking her," it said.

Kyodo news agency said the Tokyo 2020 organising committee would meet on Thursday to select a new president.

Hashimoto declined to comment on the report.

Yoshiro Mori, an 83-year-old former prime minister with a record of insensitive and sexist pronouncements, had tried to justify the lack of women at a senior level in the Japanese Olympic Committee by saying women talk too much at meetings and make them run on too long. The following day he apologised but showed no apparent remorse and said he had no intention of resigning.