By Ben Dooley

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo have already been disrupted by a pandemic and sweltering heat. Starting on Tuesday, athletes and organizers will also have to deal with strong winds and heavy rain, with a typhoon expected to make landfall north of the city.

The storm will most likely avoid a direct hit on Japan’s capital, but the winds and waves on the periphery of the storm could upset Olympic plans in and around Tokyo.

A forecast by the Japan Meteorological Agency called for about six inches of rain over a 24 hour period through Wednesday morning, with winds reaching speeds of up to about 45 miles per hour.

As of Monday evening, however, organizers had only announced schedule changes to rowing and archery. Otherwise, events are expected to proceed as planned, they said.

The forecast is not all bad news. Competitors in the surfing event said that the storm surge had already stoked bigger waves, a net positive.

And some athletes even welcomed the challenge, like Haley Batten, an American who is scheduled to compete Tuesday on a mountain biking course on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

“It definitely makes the event even more exciting,” she told reporters on Sunday. “So I’m just embracing the chaos.”

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