Spectators banned from most Olympic events as Covid emergency declared

Tokyo's fourth state of emergency will begin on Monday

Kath Grainger: Sense of loss for athletes at empty stadiums'

For 125 years they have been an integral part of the world's largest sports event, inspiring athletes to be faster, higher, stronger. But, for the first time in history, spectators have been barred from most Olympic events after a fourth state of emergency was declared in Tokyo.

Organisers had been planning to allow up to 10,000 spectators at venues, despite fears it could lead to the Olympics becoming a super-spreader event. However on Thursday they were forced to perform a U-turn after a spike in cases of the Delta variant.