Slimmed-down ceremony to open pandemic-hit Tokyo Games

TOKYO: The Tokyo Olympics opens on Friday with a ceremony reflecting a Games like no other, walking a fine line between celebrating the feats of the world's best athletes while acknowledging the global hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Postponed for a year, organisers were forced to take the unprecedented step of holding the Games without fans as the pandemic continues to take lives around the world. Even the opening ceremony, normally a star-studded display teeming with celebrities, will have fewer than 1,000 people in attendance.