Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka on Friday lit the Olympic cauldron to mark the formal start of Tokyo 2020, in an opening ceremony shorn of glitz and overshadowed by a pandemic but celebrated as a moment of global hope. Olympics Tokyo2020 openingcere...
The ceremony climaxed with a fusion of traditional kabuki theatre - with its elaborate makeup and costumes - and a jazz piano improvisation, on a stage topped with the cauldron for the Olympic flame.
Members of the Canada delegation wore patches in the colour of the rainbow, the symbol of the LGBT community, on their jackets. U.S. first lady Jill Biden clapped the Americans as did France President Emmanuel Macron for the French team. A vastly smaller number of athletes marched in the teams' parade, with many flying in just before their competitions and due to leave shortly after to avoid infections.Delegations tried their best to liven the mood. Uganda, wearing bright traditional costumes, did a few measures of a dance, while the Argentine delegation jumped up and down on entering.
The opening video showed how the coronavirus struck in 2020, with lockdowns forcing the unprecedented postponement only four months before the Games were due to open, setting off a roller-coaster period of preparations in isolation for the athletes.A moment of silence was held"for all those family and friends we have lost," especially to Covid-19, and mention was made of the Israeli athletes slain at the 1972 Munich Games.
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