After a year of pandemic postponement and a build-up marked by scandal and controversy, the Tokyo Olympics opened on Friday in a practically empty National Stadium. Performances and fireworks kicked off the occasion. It was followed by a parade of participating countries, which laid the groundwork for speeches by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and Tokyo Organising Committee President Seiko Hashimoto.
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— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
We're just getting started 😏#Tokyo2020 | #Olympics | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/R20f4fHDhq
Naomi Osaka raised the Olympic flag and performed the Olympic torch relay to light up the Olympic Cauldron. The Olympic Flame is passed from baseball superstars to a doctor and a nurse. Wakako Tsuchida, a paralympic athlete from Japan, receives the Olympic torch from the Japanese medical staff.
The Olympic flame is about to enter the stadium. Hideki Matsui, Sadaharu Oh, and Shigeo Nagashima are among the Japanese baseball legends who will carry the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony.
NAOMI OSAKA
Olympic flame now passed on to students, who hold aloft the torch one by one before running up and passing it to Naomi Osaka.
Time to light the Olympic cauldron
Time to light the Olympic cauldron. The flame is passed to a Doctor and nurse.
It is now being passed to Paralympic athlete TSUCHIDA Wakako.
THE OLYMPIC FLAME ENTERS THE STADIUM
THE OLYMPIC FLAME ENTERS THE STADIUM.
It is passed by the Judo Olympic champion and Olympic champion in wrestling NOMURA Tadahiro and YOSHIDA Saori, respectively.
The Olympic flame is passed on to the former Baseball players NAGASHIMA Shigeo, OH Sadaharu, and MATSUI Hideki.
That’s all we have from the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony! It all started with dance and flair, moved on to the nation’s parade, and ended with Japanese tennis sensation Noami Osaka lighting up the Olympic Cauldron!
✅Regular Pictograms
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 23, 2021
✅Kinetic Pictograms
… and now Human Pictograms 🤩
Only at #Tokyo2020 #OpeningCeremony #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/b39A0MJoqb
Thank you so much for joining us on this coverage. We will be back with live coverage of day 2 of the Olympics. See you in the morning. Until then, goodnight! CIAO!
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