Tokyo Olympics officially begin under spectre of pandemic

Opening ceremony marks beginning of summer games delayed for a year and held under unprecedented restrictions.

The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games has begun in Tokyo, officially kicking off the quadrennial international sporting event being held under the unprecedented circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito was among those attending Friday’s ceremony, which was initially scheduled to be held about a year earlier before its postponement due to surging COVID-19 infections across the world. Only a few hundred dignitaries and special guests, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US First Lady Jill Biden, were allowed into the 68,000-capacity New National Stadium after games officials decided to largely bar spectators. International and domestic fans have been banned from all venues in Tokyo.