Laat die Spele uiteindelik begin! Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony kicks off with brilliant display in near-empty stadium after a year of delays due to Covid
Japan has finally kicked off the Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a symbolic show of hope and tenacity in the face of adversity at its Opening Ceremony on Friday night.
Daar was net 950 VIPs and world leaders inside the 68,000-seat main arena in Tokyo to watch the display of light and colour on Friday night amid rising case totals in the country which forced organisers to ban crowds.
Sombre and socially-distanced – gone were the tightly-packed dance routines that traditionally mark opening ceremonies as directors instead made the best use of projection technology to add colour and pageantry.
A large firework display did add a burst of sound to what was otherwise an eerily quiet event, after organisers opted against playing artificial crowd noises in the arena.
A moment of silence for all victims of the Covid pandemic then followed, after which dancers representing Japanese woodworkers took the stage representing the country’s history and culture.
They formed Olympic rings made from the wood of trees planted from seeds brought to the country the last time it hosted the Olympics in the 1960s, before the traditional Parade of Nations with athletes filing into the arena under the banners of their countries – though their numbers were much-reduced from previous years.
Plagued by the pandemic, scandals among officials, and strongly divided opinions among locals, Japan will hope the touching spectacle will help coalesce positive feeling around the £13billion sporting extravaganza.
The Tokyo Olympics began with a bang as fireworks exploded over an otherwise eerily quiet arena after crowds were banned with less than 1,000 dignitaries, delegates, and VIPs in attendance
Fireworks explode over the main Olympic stadium in Tokyo as the Opening Ceremony gets underway, a year after the event was delayed due to the Covid pandemic
Fireworks go off during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic games
Flag bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi of Team Great Britain leads their team out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Team GB enter the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, Japan, led by flagbearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi after rules were changed to allow one male and one female flagbearer
Hannah Mills of Britain and Mohamed Sbihi of Great Britain lead their contingent in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony
Australia’s flag bearers Patty Mills and Cate Campbell lead their delegation as they parade during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Australia’s delegation parade during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Australia’s athlete poses for pictures while parading during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Wooden Olympic rings made from the wood of trees planted the last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics are brought into the main arena during the Opening Ceremony
Performers take part in the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, a year after it was scheduled due to Covid delays
Olympic rings are formed during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium
Fireworks go off inside the stadium during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
Fireworks go off and performers dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, the Games’ guest of honour, waves to the small crowd of VIPs and special guests in the stadium
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach (sentrum), Japanese Emperor Naruhito (tweede regs) and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (vêr regs) enter the Olympic arena as during the opening ceremony
Trepidations throughout Japan have threatened for months to drown out the usual carefully packaged glitz of the opening. Inside the stadium after dusk Friday, egter, a precisely calibrated ceremony sought to portray that the Games – and their spirit – are going on.
Vroegtydig, an ethereal blue light bathed the empty seats as loud music muted the shouts of scattered protesters outside calling for the Games to be canceled – a widespread sentiment here. A single stage held an octagon shape meant to resemble the country’s fabled Mount Fuji.
Organizers held a moment of silence for those who had died of COVID; as it ticked off and the music paused, the sounds of the protests echoed in the distance.
Athletes marched into the stadium in their usual parade of nations, some socially distanced, others clustering together in ways utterly contrary to organizers’ hoop. They waved enthusiastically to thousands of empty seats, and to a world hungry to watch them compete but surely wondering what to make of it all.
Their shouts raise a fundamental question about these Games as Japan, and large parts of the world, reel from the continuing gut punch of a pandemic that is stretching well into its second year, with cases in Tokyo approaching record highs this week: Will the deep, intrinsic human attachment to the spectacle of sporting competition at the highest possible level be enough to salvage these Games?
Time and again, previous opening ceremonies have pulled off something that approaches magic. Scandals – bribery in Salt Lake City, censorship and pollution in Beijing, doping in Sochi – fade into the background when the sports begin.
But with people still falling ill and dying each day from the coronavirus, there’s a particular urgency to the questions about whether the Olympic flame can burn away the fear or provide a measure of catharsis – and even awe – after a year of suffering and uncertainty in Japan and around the world.
Outside the stadium, hundreds of curious Tokyo residents lined a barricade that separated them from those entering – but just barely: Some of those going in took selfies with the onlookers across the barricades, and there was an excited carnival feeling. Some pedestrians waved enthusiastically to approaching Olympic buses.
A group of performers carry out a routine during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
A routine featuring traditional Japanese woodworkers which built much of Japan’s infrastructure before the introduction of concrete and steel in the modern era
Performers play traditional Japanese woodworkers, symbolizing the country’s history during the opening ceremony
Performers dance as the Olympic Cauldron is seen during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
The national anthem is performed during the opening ceremony of the Covid-delayed 2020 Olympics in Japan
The Japanese flag is carried onto the stage during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Japan raises its flag in the Olympic Stadium as the national anthem is sung during the opening ceremony
The Japanese flag is raised over the main Olympic stadium in Tokyo during the opening ceremony
The image of a single athlete rising from the ground with a plant shoot behind them began the opening ceremony, symbolizing hope that springs anew in the face of adversity
An opening dance routine showed performers entangled in a web of red threads, symbolizing the fear and anxiety that many have been through in the last 18 maande
Performers dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
The theme of the opening segment was of athletics being used to overcome adversity, which organisers hope will be the lasting legacy of the Tokyo Olympics
Performances dance during a light show during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Dancers take part in the opening performance of the ceremony, which featured the theme of sport overcoming adversity
Performers are seen during the opening ceremony taking place in Tokyo after a year of pandemic delays
Performers during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Japan
A group of performers carry out a routine during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
A performance paying tribute to all those who have died due to Covid and other causes in 2020 takes place before viewers were asked to observe a moment of silence
Performers take part in the Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo on Friday night as the Covid-delayed games got underway
Performers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games at the National Stadium
A group of performers carry out a routine during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
The ceremony was told that the Olympics would remember Covid victims across the world, but what was promised to be a minute’s silence only lasted a few seconds before the stadium announcer ended it.
‘They will forever half a place in our hearts’ said the announcer. Crowds of Japanese people – both for and against the Games – gathered in their thousands outside the stadium.
While families with children stared up in awe as fireworks filled the sky, demonstrators called for Tokyo 2020 to be called off.
A protest leader condemned the ever chanting ‘Stop the Olympics Now’ through a megaphone.
Earlier in the day hundreds of sports fans had gathered outside the main Olympic arena in Tokyo on Friday certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves, some dressed in traditional Japanese regalia while others posed for photos in front of the Olympics’ famous rings.
Supporters were also treated to a fly-past by the Blue Impact military display team, whose jets streaked through the sky above the stadium trailing coloured smoke.
Meanwhile Olympic torchbearers beamed as they took part in a final relay event – taking just a few steps before passing the flame instead of the usual running due to Covid rules – before the flame is taken to the main arena where it will be used to light a cauldron and officially open the Games during tonight’s ceremony.
Few know what to expect from the ceremony itself, which has been extensively re-planned since the Games were delayed from last year – coming amid a pandemic which will make traditional routines of choreographed dancers nigh-on impossible to replicate.
It will also take place in front of just 950 attendees including 15 heads of state after large crowds were banned due to Tokyo’s spiralling Covid case tolls.
The show is expected to focus on Japan’s history as well as its contribution to modern culture and technology, though will have a less celebratory tone than previous years as it comes amid the pandemic.
A tribute to those who are suffering from or have died of Covid is expected to feature as part of the performance, though how directors choose to handle the topic of the virus is sure to be much-talked-about.
Adding a further unepected element to the performance is the fact that one of the directors – Kantaro Kobayashi – was forced to resign just yesterday after a past comedy sketch he performed that included jokes about the Holocaust resurfaced.
The Games were supposed to take place last year but organisers took a high-stakes gamble to postpone them due to the Covid pandemic, in the hopes that the virus would be under control by now.
Officials now have the unenviable task of staging the Games while the most-infectious form of Covid to date is in circulation, causing cases to rise rapidly in Japan amid fears the Olympics will become a super-spreader event.
Tokyo reported 1,359 COVID-19 cases on Friday, part of a wave of infection in the capital as the Olympic Games kick off, it’s highest one-day toll since January.
Even this slimmed-down version of the competition – with strict limits on who can stay in Athletes’ Village and crowds banned from stadiums – will see some 50,000 people gather in the largest international event since the pandemic began.
And while Covid cases driven by the Delta variant are rising rapidly in other countries – such as the UK – Japan has fully vaccinated just 20 per cent of its population, one of the lowest rates among developed countries.
But comparison, the UK has fully vaccinated more than half of its population.
That has made the Games unpopular with the Japanese public, with polls consistently showing a majority of people do not support the event going ahead and do not expect to enjoy watching.
That anger was visible on Friday as locals waving banners that read ‘NOlympics’ and ‘Cancel the Tokyo Olympics’ were pictured in Tokyo at a torch relay event.
Maar, even at the 11th hour, demonstrators furious that the event is going ahead during a pandemic and against the backdrop of rising cases in Japan gathered to call for the event to be scrapped.
Verlede Junie het die Commons-komitee vir openbare rekeninge gewaarsku dat bedrog en foute in Covid-skemas belastingbetalers meer as £30 miljard gekos het 110 cases of Covid linked directly to the Games after another 25 were reported Thursday, bringing the total number of infected athletes to 13 including another member of the Czech team – road cyclist Michal Schlegel.
Flag bearers Malia Paseka and Pita Taufatofua of Team Tonga lead their team out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Zhu Ting and Zhao Shuai, nadat sy op haar eerste kombinasie triple flip-triple toeloop sprong getuimel het, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony
Athletes of China celebrate as they are introduced during the opening ceremony
Laura Ludwig and Patrick Hausding, van Duitsland, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Anna Korakaki and Eleftherios Petrounias of Team Greece during the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 2020
Argentina’s flag bearer Cecilia Carranza Saroli and Argentina’s flag bearer Santiago Raul Lange lead the delegation during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Athletes of Argentina during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
Keet Oldenbeuving and Churandy Martina, of the Netherlands, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony
Athletes from the Netherlands, walk during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium
Flag bearers Harmanpreet Singh of India and Mary Kom Hmangte lead their contingent during the athletes’ parade
Mireia Belmonte and Saul Craviotto of Team Spain lead their team in during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games
Flagbearer Brendan Irvine of Ireland and flagbearer Kellie Harrington of Ireland lead their contingent
Flag bearers Cecilia Carranza of Argentina and Santiago Lange of Argentina lead their contingent during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Farida Azizova and Rustam Orujov of Team Azerbaijan during the Opening Ceremony
The Afghanistan Olympic team carrying the national flag during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Japan
Flag bearers Kirabo Namutebi and Shadiri Bwogi of Team Uganda during the Opening Ceremony
Flag bearers Samantha Roberts and Cejhae Greene of Team Antigua and Barbuda during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Kirabo Namutebi of Uganda leads her contingent during the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Olena Kostevych and Bogdan Nikishin of Team Ukraine lead their team out during the Opening Ceremony
Mohammed Al-Khafaji of Iraq and Fatimah Al-Kaabi of Iraq lead their contingent in the athletes parade during the ceremony
Fatimah Abbas Waheeb Al-Kaabi and Mohammed Al-Khafaji, of Iraq, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Olimpiese somerspele
Flag bearers Pol Moya of Andorra and Monica Doria of Andorra lead their contingent during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Varsenik Manucharyan of Armenia and Hovhannes Bachkov of Armenia lead their contingent during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Hedaya Wahba and Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Team Egypt during the Opening Ceremony
Athletes from Austria are seen during the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Hanna Minenko and Yakov Toumarkin of Team Israel during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games
Flag bearers Dina Ellermann and Tonu Endrekson of Team Estonia during the Opening Ceremony
Yusra Mardini and Tachlowini Gabriyesos, of the Refugee Olympic Team, carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Olimpiese somerspele
Flag bearers Anna Korakaki and Eleftherios Petrounias of Team Greece lead their teammates out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
US First Lady Jill Biden speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron as they arrive at the opening ceremony
Three members of the media were also included in the latest total – which only counts those who tested positive in Japan and not those who were diagnosed in their home countries before making the journey.
Schlegel tested positive at the team’s training base in Izu and will miss Saturday’s road race.
The Czech Olympic Committee said in a statement Friday that Schlegel is in isolation, and that Michael Kukrle and Zdenek Stybar will be its only two riders lining up at Musashinonomori Park for one of the first medal events of the Summer Games.
Czech beach volleyball players Marketa Slukova and Ondrej Perusic and table tennis player Pavel Sirucek also tested positive earlier this week.
That has prompted the Czech Olympic team to investigate whether the outbreak is linked to its chartered flight to Tokyo.
Meanwhile a series of scandals has plagued organisers, with no fewer than five Olympic officials and artists linked to the Games being forced to quit – mostly over claims of inappropriate past behaviour.
The most-recent was Opening Ceremony director Kantaro Kobayashi who was forced to step down on Thursday after an old comedy skit in which he jokes about the Holocaust came to light.
It was the third resignation just this week, after Opening Ceremony composer Keigo Oyamada was sacked over historic allegations of bullying, and children’s author Nobumi quit a cultural event related to the Games also over bullying claims.
Despite Kobayashi’s resignation, organisers insisted the Opening Ceremony – already re-planned at short notice due to Covid – would go ahead as planned.
Even on the field the Games is running into controversy amid a growing backlash against anti-protest gestures by the International Olympic Organising Committee.
The IOC has already watered down a 50-year-old rule on political gestures at the Games to allow footballers to take a knee against racial injustice before matches.
Canada’s flag bearers Nathan Hirayama and Miranda Ayim parade during the opening ceremony
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Ricardo Brown, of Jamaica, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony
Flagbearers Joseph Essombe Tiako of Cameroon and Albert Mengue Ayissi of Cameroon lead their contingent
Mercy Moim and Andrew Amonde, of Kenya, carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Kimberly Ince and Delron Felix of Team Grenada (links) and athletes of the Cook Islands take part in the parade
A member of team Egypt during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Olimpiese somerspele
Flag bearer Abdelmalik Muktar of Team Ethiopia carries his country’s flag during the Opening Ceremony
Eke of Ghana and Sulemanu Tetteh of Ghana and team are seen during the opening ceremony
Flag bearers Andri Eleftheriou and Milan Trajkovic of Team Cyprus
Flag bearer Yousuf Almatrooshi of Team United Arab Emirates leads their team out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
An athlete from South Korea during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
The Georgia Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Athletes from Saudi Arabia walk during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium
Vanuatu flagbearer Riilio Rii leads the team out during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
Flag bearers Matie Stanley of Tuvalu and Karalo Maibuca of Tuvalu lead their continent during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
Arbresha Rexhepi of North Macedonia and Dejan Georgievski of North Macedonia are seen during the opening ceremony
Flagbearers Bogdan Nikishin and Olena Kostevych of Ukraine lead their contingent in the athletes parade during the opening
Bakhodir Jarolov of Uzbekistan leads his contingent during the athletes’ parade at the opening ceremony
But on Friday a group of 150 atlete, academics, and social justice campaigners submitted a letter saying a ban on political gestures on podiums should be revoked.
The letter said it was adding ‘a collective voice’ to calls for amendments to Rule 50.
‘We believe the global sport community is at a turning point in matters of racial and social justice, and we call on you as leaders in the Olympic and Paralympic movements to make a stronger commitment to human rights, racial/social justice, and social inclusion,’ die brief gelees.
Among the signatories were Black U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who were expelled from the 1968 Olympics after they bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists on the podium to protest racial inequality.
The Muhammad Ali Center also signed the letter, with the late boxing world and Olympic champion’s cauldron lighting at the Atlanta 1996 Games having become an iconic moment of Olympic history.
The letter called for no sanctions to be imposed on athletes who protested on the podium in Japan and demanded a review of Rule 50 after next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics.
British track and field medal hope Dina Asher-Smith also joined the chorus of opposition as she prepared for the Games.
‘Protesting and expressing yourself is a fundamental human right,’ she told reporters. ‘If you were to penalise someone for standing up against racial inequality how on earth would that go? How on earth are you going to enforce that?’
‘When people feel strongly about something, particularly when it’s something that’s so close to your heart – and as a Black woman you think about racism – I just think you can’t police people’s voice on that.’
Sports fans gather outside Tokyo’s main stadium to take pictures in front of the Olympic rings and soak in the atmosphere ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony
Olympic super-fan Kyoko Ishikawa, who has attended every Summer Olympics in the past 30 jare, celebrates outside Tokyo’s main stadium as the Games finally comes to her country
Japanese display team Blue Impulse take part in an aerial show over Tokyo’s Olympic stadium ahead of the opening ceremony
Blue Impulse display jets release coloured smoke over Tokyo hours before the main Opening Ceremony is due to take place
Crowds point their cameras at the sky as jets from the Blue Impulse display team perform in the skies over Tokyo
Japanese sports fans have put aside their worries about rising Covid cases in the city to gather outside the Olympic stadium
People take photographs as jets fly over Tokyo ahead of the official start of the Olympics
Tokyo is poised to kick off its Olympic Games after a year of delays due to the Covid pandemic and despite rising cases
People stand outside the National Stadium before the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
A woman in traditional clothing looks on from behind a fence prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games
People excited about the arrival of the Games stand outside the National Stadium before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics
A giant digital clock in Tokyo counts down to the start of the opening ceremony as fans gather in front of it
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito delivers a speech to the guests including French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. First Lady Jill Biden at the Imperial Palace ahead of the official opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpiese Spele
French President Emmanuel Macron is pictured arriving in Tokyo ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, where he will be one of just 15 world leaders in attendance
Amerikaanse. First Lady Jill Biden gestures as she arrives at Imperial Palace for a meeting with Japan’s Emperor Naruhito in Tokyo
Protesters opposed to the Tokyo Olympics gather outside a torch relay venue in the Japanese capital to express their anger just hours before the Games officially begin
Polls show most Japanese do not support the Games being held during Covid, particularly as cases rise across the country with a state of emergency declared in Tokyo itself
A man holds a banner declaring ‘shame’ on ‘greedy’ Olympic organisers and athletes for pursuing ‘money and honour’ while ordinary Japanese only feel ‘despair’
Olympic organisers have vowed to push ahead with the event despite widespread opposition that has even seen some sponsors distance themselves from the Games
Protesters gather outside Tokyo’s main Olympic stadium carrying banners that demand the event is called off, just hours before it goes ahead
Protesters march outside the Tokyo Olympics’ main stadium ahead of the Opening Ceremony
Activists hold an anti-Olympics rally in Tokyo just hours before the Games are due to start
Police officers gather outside a train station near the Tokyo Olympic stadium during protests against the Games
Russian archer COLLAPSES in scorching Tokyo heat during Olympics qualification
A Russian archer fainted in the Tokyo heat during a qualifying Olympic round on Friday as a 33C (91F) heatwave pushed coaches and staff to huddle under trees for shade.
Svetlana Gomboeva collapsed as she checked her final scores and required assistance from staff and team-mates who put bags of ice on her head to cool her down.
‘We hope that she will be okay. It turns out that she couldn’t stand a whole day out in the heat,’ coach Stanislav Popov told reporters.
A Russian archer fainted in the Tokyo heat during a qualifying Olympic round on Friday
‘This is the first time I remember this happening. In Vladivostok, where we were training before this, the weather was similar. But humidity played a role here.’
Team-mate Ksenia Perova said later that Gomboeva was recovering well and would be able to resume competition.
‘Everything is fine with Sveta now,’ sy het gese.
With temperatures expected to peak around 33 grade Celsius (91 Die James Webb-teleskoop en die meeste van sy instrumente het 'n werkstemperatuur van ongeveer) in the archery dome on the first day of competition, athletes had challenges with hydration and staying cool as well as those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gomboeva quickly regained consciousness after collapsing but needed to be taken off on a stretcher out of the arena by medical officers.
South Korea’s Kang Chaeyoung, who came third in the individual ranking rounds, said she had not experienced anything like Tokyo’s heatwave conditions in other recent events.
Australia’s Alice Ingley had some simple advice for her fellow competitors on how to beat the heat.
‘Cooling vest, slushies, aanhangers, umbrellas, just all that, just try to keep out of the heat as much as possible,’ Ingley told Reuters after her competition.
‘And drink water as much as possible.’
Svetlana Gomboeva (sentrum) collapsed as she checked her final scores and was seen to by staff
