[Archive 2021-07-23] 2020 Olympics opening ceremony takes place in Tokyo

Historical archive — originally published 2021-07-23. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

The 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony took place today in Tokyo's National Stadium in Japan. Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, 23, lit the Olympic flame. Out of a seating capacity of 68,000, only the media and 900 dignitaries were able to watch in person. Originally due to take place in 2020, the games were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Japanese flag was carried in by athletes and healthcare workers. A moment of silence was then held to remember the victims of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Olympic athletes who had died, including the Israeli athletes who were murdered in 1972. The Olympic cauldron was represented as the sun on top of Japan's Mount Fuji, which then opened like a flower, symbolising "vitality and hope". The sky above the stadium was then lit by a revolving globe composed of 1,824 drones; this was followed by a performance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Imagine by singers John Legend and Keith Urban.

There were protests outside the stadium against the Olympics taking place due to the ongoing pandemic. A recent poll by Kyodo News among the Japanese found 32.1% believed the Olympics should be cancelled, and 87% were concerned about it being hosted due to the pandemic.

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