Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron as the Tokyo Games opened on Friday after a year’s pandemic delay and lingering coronavirus threats.
Osaka lifted the torch to the gleaming cauldron, which had unfurled at the top of a ramp representing Mount Fuji, in the highlight of a ceremony that was stripped back over virus fears.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito officially opened the Games in an eerily empty Olympic Stadium, after Covid-19 forced organisers to ban spectators at all but a handful of venues.
“I declare open the Games of Tokyo,” said the monarch, wearing a white surgical mask, in Tokyo’s 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium.
In Atlanta back in 1996, Muhammad Ali created one of the most powerful moments in the Games’ history before Cathy Freeman did the same, four years later in Sydney. At the most recent Games in Rio de Janeiro, the honour was handed to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima.
Osaka, who has been open about her mental health struggles recently, received the torch at the end of a relay that included great icons of Japanese sport, key workers, and children from regions affected by the earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago.
Prior to the ceremony taking place, it was thought that Osaka might have a key role to play after her first-round match was removed from the schedule for Saturday.
The lighting of the cauldron by 23-year-old Osaka came at the end of a considered and measured ceremony. It was titled ‘United by Emotion’ and delivered inside an empty Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
“Undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honour I will ever have in my life,” Osaka said after the ceremony on social media.
“I have no words to describe the feelings I have right now, but I do know I am currently filled with gratefulness and thankfulness. Love you guys, thank you.”
When Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, addressed the athletes within the arena, as well as the few members of the media and dignitaries that were allowed to be present, he delivered a message of solidarity and resilience.
“Today is a moment of hope,” Bach said. “Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined but let us cherish this moment because finally, we are all here together.
“This is the power of sport, the message of solidarity, peace, and resilience.
“My fellow Olympic athletes, you had to face great challenges on your Olympic journey.
“You did not know when you could train again if you could see your coach tomorrow, if your teammates would be with you for the next competition, or if this competition would take place at all.
“You struggled, you persevered, you never gave up. And today you are making your Olympic dream come true. You are true Olympic athletes.”
The ceremony was respectful of the current circumstances, with the majority of countries taking much smaller delegations of athletes than usual to it. The scale of the arrangements within the ceremony was also smaller than would otherwise have been the case.
A moment of silence featured to remember those who had been lost to COVID-19 and the Olympians who had passed away, including the Israeli athletes who lost their lives in Munich 1972. A revised Olympic motto was also shared: Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.
The Olympic rings were constructed out of wood that came from trees grown from seeds brought by international athletes the last time Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games in 1964, while a performance of every sport’s pictogram in succession and a drone display provided further uplifting moments.
Team GB was represented at the ceremony by just 22 athletes in total, with Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi carrying the Union Jack flag together.