There Was a Bear Loose at the Olympics Before the First Softball Game

The Tokyo Olympics are getting started, and there's already one unexpected visitor.

olympics bear
Photo by Lubos Chlubny/Shutterstock
Photo by Lubos Chlubny/Shutterstock

The opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is still a couple of days away, but the games already have a showstopping visitor. There's a brown bear wandering around the Azuma Sports Park.

It was first spotted by a security guard at the park on Tuesday, the Washington Post reports. (Though, other outlets have said the bear was identified as an Asian black bear.) The bear came back on Wednesday just hours before the first Olympic softball game between host country Japan and Australia. Then the bear went missing.

Officials couldn't locate the bear, a Fukushima police spokesperson told Agence France-Presse. "We couldn't find or capture the bear, and while there won't be any spectators at the stadium, we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site," the spokesperson said. 

The Japan Times reports that organizers initially tried to scare the animal off with loud music and firecrackers. Nonetheless, the game went on without another bear sighting. Japan beat Australia 8-1 in one of the first Olympic events at the 2020 games, which are obviously taking place in 2021.

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Dustin Nelson is a Senior Staff Writer at Thrillist. Follow Dustin Nelson on Twitter.