Tokyo Summer Olympics 2021 finally kicked off via a restricted opening ceremony held in Japanese capital without spectators on Friday July 23rd on Sunday a day earlier.
Belated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics were kicked off with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games.
The opening ceremony was held with an almost empty stadium as the Olympics games will be held without spectators due to COVID-19 fears.
Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lighted the cauldron indicating the beginning of Olympic games.
Japanese Emperor Naruhito declared the Games open, with fireworks bursting over the stadium after he spoke.
A total of 5,700 athletes paraded in, waving at empty seats – far lower than the usual numbers. Costumed volunteers gyrated as if to draw excitement from a crowd that was not there. Oaths were taken, speeches were made, dances were danced, all of it for the entertainment of millions of television viewers, but only perhaps 10,000 human beings, most of them members of the news media, dignitaries and Olympic volunteers.
The number of Olympic-related infections since July 1 stood at 106, while the Japanese capital logged 1,359 new infections.
A moment of silence was held “for all those family and friends we have lost,” especially to the coronavirus, and mention was made of the Israeli athletes slain at the 1972 Munich Games.
It is pertinent to know that Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to be held in 2020 last year, but were delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
These are the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan, following the Tokyo 1964 (Summer), Sapporo 1972 (Winter), and Nagano 1998 (Winter) games.
Pakistan has sent a 20-member squad which includes 10 athletes and 10 officials.
