The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, started on Friday all but behind closed doors in the Japanese capital’s National Stadium.
The procession was followed by a moment of silence for victims of the pandemic, as well as Israeli Olympians killed during the 1972 Munich games before the first of an expected 5,700 athletes began streaming into the ceremony.
Only a few hundred dignitaries and special guests, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US First Lady Jill Biden, were allowed into the 68,000-capacity New National Stadium after games officials decided to largely bar spectators. International and domestic fans have been banned from all venues in Tokyo.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito was to formally open the Games after a cultural programme re-enacting a traditional Japanese festival with hundreds of performers, and the traditional parade of nations which was scheduled to last for more than two hours alone.
More than 11,000 athletes will contest 339 medal events across 50 disciplines in 33 sports until August 8; but a more important number in determining the success or failure of the Games could be Olympics-related coronavirus infections which on Friday reached 106 since July 1.
The vast majority of the competition will take place behind closed doors as Tokyo is under a coronavirus-related state of emergency and a majority of the population opposes the Games being staged now.
According to the media outlets, several hundred people are gathered near Olympic Stadium in Tokyo to protest holding the Games during the pandemic. The stadium is quiet enough that they are audible during the ceremony.
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