The world athletics championships in Tokyo starting Saturday can "wipe away" the painful memory of empty stands at the Olympics there four years ago, the head of Japan's athletics federation said.
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The Tokyo Games, delayed a year to 2021 because of the pandemic, were held in strict conditions to prevent the spread of the virus, with fans shut out of most venues and athletes forced to undergo tests and social distancing.
The world championships will have no such restrictions and thousands of fans are expected to flock to Tokyo's National Stadium, which seats almost 70 000.
Japan Association of Athletics Federations president Yuko Arimori said Friday that she hoped the competition would remind people of the value of sport.
"Sport isn't just about the athletes but about everyone getting energy from it and lifting each other up, and I think that kind of energy is important," she said.
"I think this event will help us wipe away the emotions we felt back then and remind us what sport should be like.
"Athletics is the mother of sports and I want people to take inspiration from it."
Arimori, a former marathon runner who won silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and bronze in Atlanta four years later, became emotional as she considered the competition's meaning.
"I'm so happy that the world's media, top athletes from around the globe and kids and fans from all over Japan will come to this stadium to support athletics and give us their energy," said Arimori, she said.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said sport had "a unique ability" to bring people together.
"It's the most potent social worker in all our communities," he said.
"It does it most effectively, probably more effectively than any other sector.
"It has the ability to touch the hearts and minds and lifestyles of young people in the way very few other sectors do."