With a few hours to go for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the Olympic torch has been lit. Although COVID-19 delayed the Olympics by an entire year, the traditional flame received light from a torch bearer earlier today.
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Nakamura Kankuro VI, the final torchbearer, lit the flame at the Citizen’s Plaza of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Final torchbearer lights the Olympic flame hours ahead of Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony
While the relay started from Olympia in Greece last March, it finished a week later in Athens without spectators. Although COVID-19 halted the relay completely from March 25, 2020, the torch relay in Japan began exactly a year later, on March 25, 2021.
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Torches are pictured during the torch kiss event, after the relay on public road was cancelled due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, during Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay celebration in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The relay began from Fukushima prefecture as a tribute to the lives lost in the disastrous earthquake in 2011. And finally, after 111 days saw torch bearers cover around 20,000kms, the Olympic flame received fire from the torchbearers.
JUST IN: The Olympic flame for #Tokyo2020 has been lit as this year’s #Olympics kick off in Japan pic.twitter.com/rZSRvLK6xW
— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) July 23, 2021
While various sports already began with their preliminary rounds, the Olympic flame is a tradition that begins the Games. Although the torch has been lit by well-known athletes in the past, the flame at Tokyo has been lit by Nakamura Kankuro VI. Kankuro, the final torchbearer of this relay, is a Japanese kabuki actor.
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Opening ceremony to begin at 8:00pm local time
While the Olympic flame received light, the opening ceremony will begin at 8:00pm local time. However, opening day festivities have already begun at Tokyo, as this tweet shows airplanes emitting smoke in the Olympic colors.
📸✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️
✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️
The most awaited games has officially has begun.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games #Tokyo2020 #Athleticshour #Olympics pic.twitter.com/ZfZPBMLPWz— Coach Richard Sekyere (@CoachRichardSek) July 23, 2021
Commencing at 8:00pm local time, fans can expect the opening ceremony to go on for approximately three hours.
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