About 11.000 athletes are expected to participate in the competition, of which 86 are from Serbia in as many as 16 different disciplines.
The Olympic Games in Tokyo were supposed to be held last summer, but they were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The opening ceremony will start on Friday at 1 p.m., and the competition will last until August 8.
Organizers announced a “more modest and sober” ceremony, unlike the previous ones, in order to stay in line with the health situation and reduce the risk of infection.
During the competition, i.e. until August 22, a state of emergency will be in force in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures due to the pandemic. Athletes and other participants will be tested regularly, their movement will be limited and they will have to adhere to special measures, after cases of infection are reported every day in the Olympic Village.
This year’s postponed Olympics are different from all previous ones in history, they are held during the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the largest sports festival in the world is held without the presence of fans.
Athletes parade with music from famous Japanese video games, traditionally, Greek athletes came out first, and after that they started to parade countries on the letter “I”, because that is the initial letter in Japanese.
At the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, which has a capacity of 68.000 people, less than 1.000 people are attending the spectacular opening ceremony, including representatives of the media and Olympic delegations and several world leaders.
The Olympic Games in Tokyo were supposed to be held last summer, but they were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more than 11.300 athletes from 200 countries and regions are coming to Japan.
Serbia will be represented by 86 athletes from 16 different disciplines, the national flag of Serbia will be carried at the opening by basketball player Sonja Vasić and water polo player Filip Filipović. The competitions at the Olympic Games last until August 8.
Source: b92