Canada-Sweden women’s soccer gold-medal game time changed due to heat

TOKYO —  It will be an early morning for soccer fans in B.C. after Olympic organizers agreed to change the start time of the women’s soccer gold-medal game.

A Canada Soccer spokesperson confirms Canada will play Sweden on Friday night (9 p.m. local time, or 8 a.m. Eastern Time) at International Stadium Yokohama.

The kickoff was originally set for mid-day (11 a.m. local time) at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, which would have allowed fans in Vancouver to watch at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The new game time is Friday morning at 5 a.m. PT.

Both teams requested a time change due to concerns about the players’ health and safety.

Temperatures have hovered in the mid-30s all week in the Tokyo area and the forecast is calling for more of the same Friday afternoon.

A number of competitors at the 2020 Games have dealt with heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Those who are on the sidelines are also suffering in the dangerous temperatures, including journalists.

Canadian Press sports reporter Josh Clipperton says it was the right decision to move the game to a time when the heat won’t be so intense.

“This might be the hottest day I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. It was 34 with the regular temperature, 44 with the humidity. Your feet are burning through your shoes,” he told NEWS 1130 Thursday morning from Tokyo.

“You’re sticky, you’re dripping without doing any exercise let alone playing a gold-medal soccer game.” Clipperton said. Adding that the original time was likely to accommodate television schedules.

“Now it will be early in the morning and people will be able to tune in and conditions will be better and make for a better game.”

He says overall the Canadian athletes have been making the best of it. They have been researching how to deal with the heat and are using ice packs and cooling procedures.

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It’s Canada’s first-ever appearance in the Olympic women’s soccer final.

Canada has captured a medal in the past three Olympics, but this could be the first gold medal outcome.

Canada finished third at both the 2012 London Games and the Rio Games in 2016.

Friday’s match also marks a historic moment in the Olympics.

A member of Canada’s team will become the first openly transgender and non-binary athlete to win an Olympic medal.

Twenty-five-year-old Quinn publicly came out in a social media post last fall.

“I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world,” Quinn said ahead of the Olympics.

With files from the Canadian Press