. >> reporter: the university professor koichi nakano, the discontent over the games is something hened about. >> a lot of us in japan are in disbelief this is happening. >> reporter: covid cases here are low compared to other countries, about 5,000 a day at the moment but japan has a serious issue, a poor vaccination rate, only around 24%. so a ruined olympics could be coy ahodid they get to this poi? >> i think the japanese people themselves are quite surprised and shocked. the japanese people have been rather trusting of the state and have been rather conformist. but in the past decades there have been cases of the vaccination programs gone wrong. there's been a rather persistent vaccine hesitancy in japan. >> reporter: the controversy and uniqueness of these games leaving even the marquee athletes feeling the pressure. the u.s. women's gymnastics team had an unusually rough start, stumbling at qualifiers. the squad performing lower than expected for a team anticipated to dominate. inside the arena the world's most decorated gymnast simone biles going out of bounds during her floo