The quadrennial multisport showcase was originally scheduled to take place last year, but it could be held only this year after the delay caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
By
AGUNG SETYAHADI From Tokyo, Japan
·5 minutes read
KYODO NEWS VIA AP
U.S. first lady Jill Biden waves upon arrival at Yokota U.S. Air Force Base, outskirts of Tokyo, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Biden represented the U.S. government at the Tokyo Olympics, to attend the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday, July 23.
The Tokyo Olympics, which has been delayed for a year due to the pandemic, will officially kick off in a sobering opening ceremony today. The Olympic torch is set to light up the Olympic cauldron to raise hope across the globe.
TOKYO, KOMPAS – After a year of uncertainty due to the pandemic, the 2020 Olympic Games will commence two weeks of competitive events at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital at 6 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Friday (23/7/2021). Although it will be far from being grandiose and festive, the opening ceremony is expected to present a glimmer of hope amid grief and hardship.
On Thursday afternoon (22/7), the Tokyo Olympic Stadium was illuminated by golden sunlight against the backdrop of a summer sky. The stadium once rumbled with applause and cheers from thousands of spectators during the 1964 Olympics.
At that time, Japan entered a new era as sprinter Yoshinori Sakai set the Olympic cauldron aflame. The replica of the 1964 Olympic cauldron was one of the attractions at the Japan Olympic Museum on Thursday.
The museum, located in front of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, was crowded with visitors, including television crew members who were reporting live ahead of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.
They laughed merrily, as if they were putting behind for a moment the troubles of the Covid-19 pandemic that continued to haunt them.
While the live broadcast was ongoing, a number of Japanese visitors were posing for photographs against a backdrop of the Olympic logo in front of the museum. They laughed merrily, as if they were putting behind for a moment the troubles of the Covid-19 pandemic that continued to haunt them.
The quadrennial multisport showcase was originally scheduled to take place last year, but it could be held only this year after the delay caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP
Australia\'s tennis player Ashleigh Barty pushes a trolley with her luggage as she leaves the Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba prefecture on July 19, 2021, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony will be a stark contrast to the 1964 event, when thousands of Japanese spectators gathered to celebrate the world sporting fest that heralded Japan into a new era as an open, modern and technologically innovative country. That past achievement is what Japan is looking to repeat with the 2020 Olympics.
Limited delegations
However, in terms of festivities, the magnitude of the 2020 Olympics is being undermined 180 degrees by the pandemic. The opening ceremony will only be attended by 950 VVIPs, comprising 800 invited guests from abroad and 150 domestic guests. The Parade of Nations will feature just two athletes from each participating country under tight supervision of the health protocols.
The Indonesian delegation will be represented by weightlifter Nurul Akmal and surfer Rio Waida as the flag bearers.
“Not all athletes will join the opening [ceremony]. That is also because the day afterwards, many of our athletes will be competing. The inputs from the coaches are that the athletes will need to be fitter and more focused [on competing],” said Indonesian Olympics delegation head Rosan Perkasa Roeslani.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be opened by Emperor Naruhito, who will be attending the ceremony, as did Emperor Hirohito with his appearance at the 1964 Games.
Japan is the second Asian country to host the Olympics in a decade, but this time around, the festivities will display none of the splendor or grandiosity that Beijing did with the 2008 Olympics, or London’s James Bond-style opening for the 2012 Olympics.
With the Japanese government declaring a state of national emergency, the public will not be allowed in the stadium for the opening ceremony. They are expected to watch it live on television.
The email said the event should have been cancelled for fear of spreading confirmed cases of Covid-19.
However, Tokyo residents are generally lackluster about following the Olympics. A citizen admitted by email of having lost interest in watching the Olympics. The email said the event should have been cancelled for fear of spreading confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The cases of Covid-19 in Tokyo have been confirmed to be increasing. The Tokyo metropolitan government announced 1,979 new cases of Covid-19 as of Thursday (22/7). The grim situation has obviously been a challenge for the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee.
AP/NATACHA PISARENKO
Japanese artistic gymnast Urara Ashikawa in action during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics training session at the Ariake Gymnastics Center, Tokyo, Japan, Thursday (22/7/2021).
Amid fears of aggravating the situation, the creative team for the Olympics opening ceremony is trying to present an atmosphere of spectacle that is hoped to ease citizens’ anxiety while at the same time evoking the romance of Japan\'s past.
"It will be a much more sobering ceremony. Nevertheless, with beautiful Japanese esthetics. Very Japanese, but also in sync with the sentiments of today, the reality," Marco Balich, senior advisor to the Tokyo ceremonies’ executive producer, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Details of the ceremony, including who will light of the Olympic Flame, had not yet been released as of Thursday. Speculation raised a number of candidates, including world women’s tennis star Naomi Osaka.
Whoever will be the lighter, the flames of the Olympic cauldron are expected to not only unite Japanese citizens who have been divided over the Olympics, but also ignite the world’s hopes in the difficult times of today. (IGA)
