Chasing Gold: The Tokyo Olympics are officially underway!
After an extra year of waiting, three days of preemptive competition and a 3-hour-and-49-minute opening ceremony, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are finally, officially underway. Is anyone else breathing a small sigh of relief?
That is, at least for now. COVID-19 cases are still rising in Tokyo, but we'll come back to that in a bit. More on the opening ceremony first.
The ceremony aired live in the U.S. Friday morning, but will re-air in its entirety at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday on NBC. Just under 1,000 spectators – dignitaries and journalists, not fans – were in attendance to watch hundreds of athletes march in the "Parade of Nations."
You can view some of the best photos from the ceremony here.
Despite the pandemic forcing some of the normal glitz and glamour of the event to be dialed down, Tokyo's opening ceremony was still a spectacle. There was an increase in shirtless flag bearers (yes, you read that right), a drone display, Team USA singing happy birthday to Kevin Durant (it's not his birthday) and several tributes to Japanese culture.
Naomi Osaka, the No. 2 tennis player in the world, lit the Olympic torch to end the ceremony. The flame entered Olympic Stadium in the hands of baseball legends Sadaharu Oh and Hideki Matsui, who were accompanied by medical professionals in honor of their worldwide efforts to combat COVID-19 over the past year and a half.
Getting back to the virus – it was revealed Friday that nearly 100 athletes in the U.S. delegation are unvaccinated, despite the United States having one of the highest vaccine accessibility rates in the world. Olympic organizers reported their highest daily total of COVID-19 cases Friday, and protesters gathered outside Olympic Stadium to condemn the Games taking place.
Going for gold: Athletes will begin to see the podium as early as Saturday morning in Tokyo (Friday night in the U.S.), when the women's 10-meter air rifle final takes place. USA Today predicted every single medal in every single sport and also has all the information on what countries have never medaled at the Olympics before. You can also read about U.S. gold-medal favorites, like surfing's Carissa Moore.
That's all for Friday! Remember that you can text our reporters in Tokyo for all the gossip, err news, from the Games.
You'll also want to subscribe to our morning sports newsletter to stay up-to-date on anything that happens while you're sleeping.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony gets 2021 Games officially started
