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After ignoring the one-year pandemic delay and the lingering threat of the coronavirus, the Tokyo Olympics was announced on Friday in an empty stadium, which will make it the most unusual Olympics in history.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito made the announcement against the backdrop of thousands of vacancies in Tokyo’s 68,000 Olympic Stadium, after Covid-19 forced organizers to ban spectators from outside a few venues.
it’s time! #TOKYO2020
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
“I announce the opening of the Tokyo Olympics,” said the monarch wearing a white surgical mask.
The streamlined and streamlined ceremony to reduce the risk of coronavirus was carried out in front of less than 1,000 VIPs and thousands of athletes.
In a visual highlight, nearly 2,000 synchronized drones formed a rotating globe above the stadium, which became the cover version of John Lennon’s “Imagination”.
The parade of approximately 5,700 athletes has decreased, far below the usual number. They flooded into the stadium. Not all of them maintained social distancing, but they all wore masks.
“More than half a century later, the Olympics returned to Tokyo. Now we will do our best to make this Olympics the pride of future generations.”
—— #Tokyo2020 President Hashimoto Seiko pic.twitter.com/NMhFAFuiMa
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, admitted that the Olympics will be “very different from what we all imagined.”
But “today is a moment of hope,” he said in his speech.
The 16-day Olympics won 339 gold medals in 33 sports, and the atmosphere became surreal after the pandemic forced organizers to set it as the first Olympic Games with few spectators.
That’s not the moon…it’s a #Tokyo2020 Drone display! #Olympic Games | #UnitedByEmotion | #Joined forces | #Opening Ceremony pic.twitter.com/bIGD4UonPO
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
Athletes are tested every day, but they are performing on the biggest stage, constantly risking that positive tests may destroy their Olympic dreams.
Fearing that the global gathering of 11,000 athletes may become a super-spreading event, which makes the Olympics very unpopular in Japan, opinion polls have shown opposition for months.
But when the fireworks exploded overhead, hundreds of people gathered outside the stadium to cheer and applaud.
Your #Tokyo2020 The emblem is in #Olympic Games #Opening Ceremony
The design is composed of three different rectangular shapes, representing different countries, cultures, and ways of thinking, and incorporates the message of “unity in diversity”. #UnitedByEmotion | #Joined forces pic.twitter.com/4kHrwGwAHK
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
Mako Fukuhara arrived six hours before the ceremony to grab a spot.
She told AFP: “Until now, it was not like the Olympics, but now we are by the stadium and it feels like the Olympics.”
Japan spent nearly US$15 billion on the Olympics, including US$2.6 billion in additional expenses, as they became the first postponed Olympic Games in the history of the modern Olympic Games in March 2020.
Tokyo is also struggling with a surge in virus cases. Although there is no strict lockdown, it is still under emergency measures.
Fight! !
Your host country Japan has entered the Olympic Stadium to complete the parade of athletes #Opening Ceremony#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #Joined forces | #Olympic Games pic.twitter.com/qzqWWzv3pk
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
Organizers hope that public opinion will change when the full-scale sports program starts on Saturday, with swimming, gymnastics, road cycling and tennis being the most popular events.
Attention will be focused on a new generation of Olympic stars who hope to shine after ten years dominated by Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps.
American swimmer Caeleb Dressel is aiming for seven gold medals. Norwegian 400-meter hurdles Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin of the United States both hope to become household names.
-#Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020hi) in India July 23, 2021
In gymnastics, Simone Biles will try to crown her dazzling career by tying Larisa Latynina’s nine Olympic gold medal records.
Surfing, skateboarding, sports climbing and karate will all make their debut in the Olympics, and New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete in the Olympics.
it’s time #Tokyo2020 Parade of athletes
As usual, Greece is the first country to enter the Olympic Stadium. #Opening Ceremony #UnitedByEmotion | #Joined forces | #Olympic Games pic.twitter.com/U09CCsCwtY
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
The pandemic is not the only minor problem. The scandal ranges from corruption in the bidding process to allegations of plagiarism on the Tokyo 2020 logo design.
The controversy continued until the eve of the Olympics, when the director of the opening ceremony was fired on Thursday for joking about the massacre in a 1998 video.
We are all connected #Tokyo2020 | #Olympic Games | #UnitedByEmotion | #Joined forces pic.twitter.com/i8qOrn7oUK
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
Industry insiders estimate that if the Olympics are cancelled, the International Olympic Committee will lose approximately US$1.5 billion in broadcast revenue.
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