Tokyo residents gather outside Tokyo’s Olympic stadium to enjoy the atmosphere on the day of opening ceremony. “It really feels like the Olympics is going to start,” says one Tokyo resident. Agence France Presse https://youtu.be/stZbrEjnn6A
Tag: Tokyo
Tokyo 2020: Scene outside stadium ahead of opening ceremony
Streets outside the Japan National Stadium are crowded as Tokyo enters the final hours before the official opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. SOURCE: AFPTV https://youtu.be/dTh2du7PGdg
Tokyo 2020: Excitement outside stadium as Olympics set to begin
Hours ahead of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, people take photos with the Olympic rings outside the Olympic Stadium. SOURCE: AFPTV https://youtu.be/CdC5tHJSq1E
Pinoy rower Cris Nievarez qualifies for quarterfinals
MANILA – Cris Nievarez made the quarterfinal cut in the Tokyo Olympics men’s rowing single sculls event after finishing third in his heat on Friday at the Sea Forest Waterway in the Japanese capital. Nievarez clocked in at seven minutes and 22.97 seconds, making the quarterfinal cut as the top three rowers per heat will qualify to the next round. He will join Croatian Damir Martin, who topped Heat 5 at 7:09.17, and Russian Alexander […]
Ceremonies chief sacked on eve of troubled Tokyo Olympics
by Talek HARRIS Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The director of the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony was fired for jokes about the Holocaust on Thursday, causing fresh embarrassment a day before the pandemic-delayed Games finally get under way. The latest row involving a senior Games figure comes at a time of widespread opposition to the 2020 Olympics as Tokyo battles its highest number of coronavirus cases since January. Japan’s Covid-19 crisis has […]
US gymnast tests positive for Covid-19 at Olympics
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A female US gymnast has tested positive for coronavirus at an Olympic training camp and another athlete is self-isolating, team chiefs and Japanese officials said on Monday. The gymnast was named by her father as 18-year-old Kara Eaker who is in Japan as a reserve on the squad led by superstar Simone Biles. Eaker is in isolation, along with another “close contact” on the team, her father Mark told CNN. He […]
Virus cluster at Japan hotel hosting Brazilian Olympians
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — At least eight staff at a Japanese hotel hosting Brazil’s Olympic judo team have tested positive for coronavirus, local officials said Thursday. Health and sports officials at Hamamatsu city, west of Tokyo, said virus screenings were done before the judo delegation of around 30 members arrived there on Saturday. None of the infected individuals came in contact with the athletes, they said. The news comes as Tokyo prepares to host […]
Breastfeeding athletes can bring children to Tokyo: organizers
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Breastfeeding athletes will be allowed to bring children to the Tokyo Olympics “when necessary”, organizers have announced, after criticism from mothers over tough rules on bringing family to the Games. The clarification was welcomed by some athletes as a relief, but US football star Alex Morgan slammed organizers for keeping her in the dark about the criteria. Athletes’ families are banned from attending the pandemic-postponed Games, under anti-virus rules that organizers […]
Japan Olympic chief says ‘no way’ to ensure zero virus cases
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Olympic chief said Monday there was “no way” to ensure zero virus cases among teams arriving for the Tokyo Games, as officials prepare to tighten screening procedures. Japanese Olympic Committee president Yasuhiro Yamashita said “thorough measures” would be necessary at airports, after two members of Uganda’s team tested positive last week following their arrival in Japan. “No matter what measures are put in place, there is no way we will […]
Twin joy as Tokyo panda gives birth to two cubs
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A panda at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo gave birth to twins on Wednesday, weeks after news of Shin Shin’s pregnancy sent stocks in nearby restaurants soaring. They were born in the early hours of Wednesday, the zoo said in a statement, adding that it had not yet confirmed the sex of the pair. Zoo director Yutaka Fukuda said the twin birth was a first for the Ueno facility. “When I heard the […]
‘No time to waste’ warns Japan climate activist
by Natsuko FUKUE Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Kimiko Hirata has spent nearly half her life fighting to wean Japan off its dependence on coal, and now isn’t the time to slow down, the award-winning activist warns. “I’m hopeful, but we have no time to waste,” said Hirata, the international director of Japan’s Kiko Network NGO. “Our future will be gone if we don’t act now,” she told AFP. It’s a message that Hirata, […]
10,000 Olympic volunteers quit ahead of Games: organisers
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Around 10,000 of 80,000 planned Tokyo 2020 Olympic volunteers have quit, organisers have revealed as they battle persistent doubts over the Games with just 50 days until the opening ceremony. Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto ruled out a further postponement of the Games, speaking to a Japan sports paper, and said cancellation would only happen in catastrophic circumstance such as most delegations not being able to come to Japan. Organisers will […]
