It is Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis player born to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, the last torchbearer of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Osaka received the Olympic torch after a relay race inside the stadium of the opening ceremony, performed by several athletes symbol of the sporting history of Japan, a couple of health workers, from a group of children born in Fukushima and from the prefectures hit by the nuclear accident of 2011, and lit the Olympic brazier that officially starts the Games competitions.
The Tokyo 2020 inauguration ceremony began at 1 pm at the Olympic stadium with a countdown that kicked off the long kermesse that, in a facility with no public, opens the Olympics. And then with a year of delay, the 32nd edition of the Olympics officially opens, in front of Emperor Naruhito. The competitions will take place until 8 August and there will be 11 thousand athletes in the race despite the virus, which continues to do positive. Green light from the IOC to the rainbow belt, Germany rejoices: “Love always wins”.
A minute of silence with all present, including Emperor Naruhito and IOC president Thomas Bach, was observed at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium at the conclusion of the initial part of the opening ceremony, when the pandemic was remembered – with characters dressed in white, doctors, nurses, patients – and his most dramatic moments. The speaker then invited everyone to stand up to honor the memory of the victims. Previously, some images of the lockdown were shown all over the world, including those of a completely empty Piazza Duomo in Milan.