LIVE blog: Tokyo Olympics 2020 Opening Ceremony
Olympics
By
Robin Toskin in Tokyo, Japan
| Jul 23, 2021
The Tokyo Olympics open with withy pomp and circumstance, walking a fine line between celebrating the feats of the world's best athletes while acknowledging the global hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
I am Robin Toskin inside Tokyo Olympic Stadium in Japan
The opening ceremony begins at 8pm Tokyo time, exactly at 2pm East Africa Time.
After the postponement of the Games last year, Japan, is ready to deliver Covid-19 hit Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee resolved to retain the 2020 despite the event taking place this year.
READ MORE
Huawei, charity partners to empower women with digital skills in Kenya
African ministers champion ICT adoption for sustainable growth
Digital lender Tala surpasses Sh300bn mobile loans as Kenyans borrow more
KCB beats Equity in profits race as earnings after tax hit Sh44.5b
Government back to drawing board after KRA misses tax targets
Adani plunges in Mumbai on founder's charges as Asian markets retreat
US govt calls for breakup of Google and Chrome
Huawei partners with Kenyan firm on artificial intelligence customer care solution
Shares of India's Adani Enterprises drop by 20pc after founder's US charges
The Games run until Aug. 8. About 11,000 athletes from 204 national Olympic committees are expected, along with a team of refugee athletes competing under the Olympic flag.
So, officially these games are called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or simply Tokyo 2020.
Additional reporting by Odero Charles & Waweru Titus
Follow the proceedings below:
4:pm: Meanwhile Boxer Nick Okoth will be the first Kenyan in action tomorrow (Saturday) in the Men’s featherweight category when he takes on Mongolia’s Tsendbaatar Erdenebat at 6:51pm Tokyo time, (12:51pm Kenyan time)
3:56pm: Jamaica: Sprinting legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and boxer Ricardo Brown lead out Team Jamaica.
3:20pm: Rugby sevens captain Andrew Amonde and women's volleyball skipper Mercy Moim enter the Olympic stadium carrying the Kenyan flag, lead their contingent.
The decision to have two flag-bearers was made by Olympics Kenya following information from the International Olympics Committee (IOC) allowing countries to have equal gender representation at the opening ceremony.
Female archer Shazad Anwar was Kenya's flag-bearer at the Rio 2016 Games, becoming the first female within the country to have the honour at the global showpiece.
2:35pm: The Japanese flag has entered the Olympic stadium
2:20pm: Early fireworks: The sky over the National Stadium in Tokyo exploded in indigo and white as fireworks marked the start of the opening ceremony for the Olympics, celebrating the world's best athletes set to compete amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The countdown ends with a pyrotechnics display, the outer rim of the stadium exploding in a shower of multi-coloured sparks.
2:15pm: The ceremony begins with an orchestral performance sound-tracking a motif of a seed germinating followed by a montage of athletes preparing for a Games that has been eight years in the making.
1:55PM: Kenya is among 205 nations taking part in these Games plus the Refugee Team comprising 29 athletes.
Kenya first took part at the Olympics in 1956 in Melbourne Australia, but it was not until 1964 in Tokyo that Team Kenya won its first-ever medal – a Bronze courtesy of Mzee Wilson Kiprugut Chumo in 800m when he clocked 1:45.9 minutes… read his story here:
Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics were remembered during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday with a moment of silence, the first time this has happened.
The families of the 11 victims had long asked the International Olympic Committee to hold a minute's silence at a Games opening ceremony, but had until Friday been turned down.
2:00PM: The opening video featured at the stadium recapped Japan's path to the Games and the challenges the world has faced since the selection of the Japanese capital as host in 2013.
It showed how in 2020 the coronavirus struck, with lockdowns forcing the unprecedented postponement only four months before the Games were supposed to open, setting off a roller-coaster period of uncertainty and preparations in isolation for the athletes.
Some of them are expected to use the ceremony to make statements about equality and justice and several nations will be represented by a man and a woman after the organisers changed their rules to allow two flagbearers.
1:30pm: US First Lady Jill Biden arrives for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Only 15 global leaders are in attendance, along with Japanese Emperor Naruhito, who will formally open the Games as his grandfather Hirohito did in 1964, and US First Lady Jill Biden.
The opening is taking place without the usual mass choreography, huge props and cornucopia of dancers, actors and lights associated with past celebrations.
A vastly smaller number of athletes will march in the teams' parade, with many planning to fly in just before their competitions and leave shortly after to avoid infections.