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Russian archer collapses due to extreme heat in Tokyo Olympics qualification event

A Russian archer passed out during a qualification event Friday due to intense heat in the Tokyo area.

Svetlana Gomboeva collapsed after her final round while she was checking her scores, and needed help from the medical staff and her teammates, making for a scary situation hours ahead of the Opening Ceremony.

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Gomboeva regained consciousness quickly, per Reuters, before leaving the arena on a stretcher.

"It turns out that she couldn't stand a whole day out in the heat," coach Stanislav Popov said, via Reuters.

"This is the first time I remember this happening. In Vladivostok, where we were training before this, the weather was similar. But humidity played a role here."

Temperatures in Tokyo reached about 86 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday. Gomboeva said later that she was recovering and traveling back to the Olympic village. She placed 45th of the 64 archers in the qualification event, and is set to compete later in the Games.

“I feel OK, my head hurts a lot,” she wrote on her Instagram story, via Reuters. “I can and I will shoot!”

The Russian team doctor said that she had officially suffered a sunstroke.

Plenty of other athletes struggled to keep cool throughout the event, something organizers have been working to assist with leading up to the Games. Per The Associated Press, organizers already moved several racing events out of Tokyo to cooler nearby cities as a precaution.

“It’s very hot here and the asphalt is really baking,” Gomboeva’s teammate Ksenia Perova said, via The Associated Press. “Of course there are also nerves, but the main reason is still the weather.”

Russia's Svetlana Gomboeva is treated for heat exhaustion at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
Svetlana Gomboeva is treated for heat exhaustion after completion of the archery ranking round on Friday in Tokyo. (Jack Gruber/USA Today/Reuters) (USA TODAY USPW / reuters)

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