Normally, Tokyo's climate should be in the shift from summer to autumn and the temperature should become cooler with each passing day.
Time is different now.
For the third summer in a row, the capital has had record-high temperatures.
Warmest since 1898
This year, the average temperature between June and August was 2.36 degrees warmer than usual – which has made the summer the warmest since the measurements began in 1898, according to Japan's meteorological agency.
The heat is forcing the World Championship organizer to move up Saturday's 35-kilometer walking competition to 7:30 (00:30 Swedish time).
Perseus Karlström, however, feels no worry about what the thermometer shows.
He has made his best preparations ever.
One must expose oneself to a lot of heat to become good at performing in it, he says.
What have you done?
First and foremost, I have used a sensor that gives a black and white picture of how much heat exposure the body is subjected to, it has been the main instrument I have used.
Then I have driven at Bosön in the climate room and at home with a sauna, as well as trained in painting overalls with clothes on top, so you simulate a microclimate inside the body even if it was only 20 degrees outside.
What body temperature have you trained with?
I have done it on fairly light passes, so the temperature did not go up too high, but around 38.6–38.8.
A little fever feeling?
Yes, exactly.
"Focus on ice"
To handle the heat, Perseus Karlström has also chosen to traditionally bet on "ice sausages" around the neck and ice cubes in the cap.
It's a lot of focus on ice and as much cold as I can get inside me and on me as possible, he says.
Perseus Karlström is in Tokyo to extend the streak with World Championship medals. After two bronzes in Eugene, USA, 2022 (20 and 35 kilometers) and silver in Budapest, Hungary, 2023 (20 kilometers), the 35-year-old is aiming entirely at 35 kilometers.
That's where I'm going in for, 100 percent. If I run 20, it's a bonus. It's primarily 35 that I want to perform best on, he says.
We have had a specific focus on 35 compared to before.
Born: May 2, 1990.
Event: Walking.
Club: Eskilstuna FI.
Medals: European Championship gold, 20 km, Rome 2024, gold in team World Championship (20 km) 2024, World Championship silver, 20 km, Budapest 2023, World Championship bronze 20 km, Doha 2019, World Championship bronze 20 km, Eugene 2022, World Championship bronze 35 km, Eugene 2022. European Championship silver, 20 km, Munich 2022.
Current: Chasing a medal when 35 kilometers are decided on Saturday in the World Championship in Tokyo.
