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In pictures

Gallery: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opening ceremony

A pick of the best images from the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo

by
23 Jul 2021

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have officially started with the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. While there were no fans in the stands due to the Covid-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, there were around 1,000 VIPs and delegates, including Japan’s Emperor Naruhito.

  • Tokyo’s ‘grand human opera’: a tonic for a weary world

As per Olympic tradition Greece were the first nation to walk out - and the athletes' parade was accompanied by an “orchestral medley of assorted Japanese video game themes”, The Guardian reports. Team GB, who were led out by flag bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi, only had 22 athletes of the 375-strong squad at the ceremony.  

There was “such a different feel to the parade”, said the BBC’s athletics commentator Andrew Cotter, but then again, “the athletes are socially distanced and usually they would hear the roar of the stadium as they came in”.

Japanese performers brought colour to the opening ceremony, but outside the stadium there was a “small but loud” protest, AP’s Philip Crowther said on Twitter.

“At any lull in the ceremony action - the bits between segments where the crowd would usually whoop and cheer - the sound of the few protesters outside is clearly audible,” said The Telegraph’s Ben Bloom. “There aren’t that many of them, but it makes for a strange backdrop to what is already such a strange show. The lack of audience reaction makes it feel like we are watching a dress rehearsal.”

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Performers assemble the Olympic Rings during the opening ceremony

Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

A general view during the opening ceremony

Maja Hitij/Getty Images

The Japanese national flag is carried onto the stage

Francois-Xavier Marit/AFP via Getty Images

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Antonin Thuillier/AFP via Getty Images

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Empty seats in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo

Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Performers in action during the opening ceremony

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

A performer sings in front of the Japanese flag during the opening ceremony

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Fireworks are seen during the opening ceremony

Maja Hitij/Getty Images

An overview shows the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony

Francois-Xavier Marit/AFP via Getty Images

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Flag bearers Anna Korakaki and Eleftherios Petrounias of Team Greece

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Flag bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi of Team GB

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Fireworks light up the sky over the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo

Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

A drone display is seen over the top of the stadium during the Opening Ceremony

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Fireworks explode during the Opening Ceremony

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

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