Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates: The COVID-hit Olympic Games is set to finally kick off on July 23, with the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Opening Ceremony scheduled to take place at 4.30 pm as per Indian Standard Time. A total of 20 Indian athletes from seven sports and six officials will participate in the Olympics opening ceremony as COVID-19 concerns and competitions lined up the next day led to a majority of the contingent deciding to stay away from the event. From hockey, only flag-bearer, men's team captain Manpreet Singh, will participate in the ceremony. The list of 20 attendees includes four paddlers, including Manika Batra and A Sharath Kamal, and as many sailing team members. Lone fencer CA Bhavani Devi, gymnast Pranati Naik and swimmer Sajan Prakash besides as many as eight boxers will also be there. Apart from MC Mary Kom, who is also a flag-bearer alongside Manpreet, Lovlina Borgohain, Pooja Rani, Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik, Ashish Kumar and Satish Kumar will participate in the ceremony. India is being represented by more than 125 athletes in the Games with the overall contingent size being 228, including officials, coaches, other support staff and alternate athletes in view of the COVID-19. Click here for Moneycontrol's complete coverage of Tokyo Games.
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Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Rowing events rescheduled: SAI
"Owing to the weather conditions, rowing events on July 24 have been rescheduled," the Sports Authority of India (SAI) tweeted.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Visual of the Olympic Flag being taken into the stadium by six athletes who have given their time to serve as essential workers in their local communities. (Image Source: Official Olympics Twitter)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Visual of the Olympic Flag is carried into the stadium by six athletes who gave their time to provide serve as essential workers in their local communities. (Image Source: Official Olympics Twitter)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Visual post-opening of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (Image Source: Tokyo 2020 on Twitter)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
After more than half a century, the Olympic Games have returned to Tokyo. Now we will do everything in our power to make this Games a source of pride for generations to come: PresidentHASHIMOTO Seiko at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
1,824 drones light up the sky above the Olympic Stadium as the Tokyo 2020 emblem seamlessly becomes a revolving globe. Take a look. (Image Source: Official Olympics Twitter account)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Oath takers come together to swear their commitment to inclusion, equality and non-discrimination as they take part in the Olympic Games (Image Source: Official Olympics via Twitter)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Union Youth Affairs & Sports Minister Anurag Thakur cheers for the Indian contingent from Delhi.
MoS Nisith Pramanik & Olympic medallist Karnam Malleswari are also present on the occasion. (Image Source: ANI)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Visual of MC Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh leading India's athletic contingent to the Olympics Image source Tokyo 2020 for India on Twitter)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Indian athlete parade commences, lead by Mary Kom. This is India's biggest contingent.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates |
Athlete parades commences
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
A visual of giantwooden rings can be seen. They arecarried in on a platform and guided by the light of many paper lanterns. Once a rope is pulled theserings transform into the Olympic symbol.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Officials raise the Japanese flag at the Olympic opening ceremony (Image Source: AP)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
A remembrance of lost lives due to Covid and lost Olympians was observed. This was followed by a performance from the members of the Japanese traditional firefighting association who showcased synchronised work songsat the opening ceremony.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Writing on the floor commemorating the games (Image Source: Tokyo2020 on Twitter)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Writing on the floor commemorating the games (Image Source: Tokyo2020 on Twitter)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Visual of the Japan flag entering the arena (Source: Olympics on Twitter)
Olympic Ceremony LIVE Updates | The theme of this opening ceremony is 'Moving Forward'.The opening video featured at the stadium recapped Japan's path to the Games and the challenges the world has faced since the selection of the Japanese capital as host in 2013.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics begins
The opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics 2020 has begun. Stay tuned here for the latest updates.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Japan's Emperor Naruhito to open Olympics, reprising grandfather's role
Japan's Emperor Naruhito is set to declare the opening of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, reprising the role of his grandfather who opened the last Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
Those Games were enthusiastically embraced in Japan and abroad, and heralded a new era for the nation after it emerged from the devastation of World War II and was on its way to becoming an economic powerhouse.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Confident that you will excel, make country proud: Presidentto Indian contingent at Tokyo OlympicsPresident Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said an entire nation's hopes and prayers are with the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics and expressed confident that the players will excel, win laurels and make the country proud. "An entire nation's hopes and prayers are with the Indian contingent at the #TokyoOlympics. I convey best wishes to you all on behalf of all Indians. I am confident that you all will excel, win laurels and make our country proud," Kovind tweeted.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Russians suspected of doping kept from TokyoThe World Anti-Doping Agency says several Russian athletes have been kept away from the Tokyo Olympics because of doping suspicions based on evidence from a Moscow testing laboratory that was shut down in 2015. WADA director general Olivier Niggli says it intervened with sports bodies to ensure those athletes not many, but there was a handful were not selected.
The team of 335 Russian athletes accredited for Tokyo is competing without a national flag and anthem as punishment for state tampering with the Moscow lab's database. The team name is ROC, the acronym for Russian Olympic Committee, without the word Russia. The identity ban for the Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games was imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last December.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
PM Modi wishes Japanese counterpart for OlympicsPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday wished his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony and said "we look forward to a season of incredible performances by the world's best sportspersons".The Olympics, postponed for a year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, are set to open in Tokyo on Friday.
Wishing PM Suga and Japan the very best for Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Modi tweeted, "We look forward to a season of incredible performances by the world's best sportspersons!" India is being represented by its largest ever contingent of 127 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, which also includes the highest female representation of 56 sportspersons.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Deepika Kumari to partner Jadhav in mixed pair competitionDeepika Kumari will partner Pravin Jadhav in the archery mixed pair event of the Olympic Games after the debutant was preferred by the team think-tank ahead of her husband and more experienced Atanu Das based on form shown in Friday's qualification round. The mixed pair competition, which will make its Games debut here on Saturday, is seen as India's best medal hope in archery where the country is yet to win an Olympic medal.
Based on the combined scores of Jadhav and Deepika Kumari, who finished ninth earlier in the day, India secured a similar ninth place ranking for the mixed pair competition. India had the option to send entries of Das and Deepika, who recently won a gold medal together at the Paris World Cup, but the federation went ahead with Jadhav. "Simply put, we picked Jadhav based on his current form, it's no rocket science," Archery Association of India official Virendra Sachdeva, who is accompanying the team in Tokyo, told PTI.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Tokyo Olympics linked COVID count goes past 100 on day of opening ceremony with 19 new cases
The COVID-19 cases associated with the Tokyo Olympics breached the 100-mark on Friday with the announcement of 19 new infections and the Czech contingent seemed among the worst hit after a fourth athlete -- road cyclist Michal Schlegel -- tested positive for the virus. The worrying milestone was touched on the day the Games will officially open here with a ceremony to be attended by less than 1,000 dignitaries and sans any spectators. The city logged 1,359 cases on Friday.
The organisers, in their daily COVID-19 update, announced that three athletes, 10 Games-concerned personnel, three mediapersons and as many contractors associated with the event have been found positive. The total number of cases directly linked to the Games stood at 106 on Friday with 11 of them athletes. The Czech contingent reported its sixth overall case even as it investigated breach of health safety protocols while travelling to Japan.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Archery- S.Koreans sweep qualifying, eye longest gold streak
South Korean archers took the top places in qualification on Friday, with one breaking an Olympic record that had stood for 25 years, as the country's women archers take aim at the longest gold medal streak in the team event at the Games. All 128 archers, 64 women and 64 men, shoot a qualifying round for the individual event. They total their points scores, up to a maximum of 720, and are ranked from top to bottom at the end of the round. Each one's position after the ranking round becomes their seed for matchplay.
An San topped the field, with the 20-year-old woman shooting 680 points to beat the record set at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. "I did my best, and that led to good results. I feel nothing but happy," An told reporters. South Korea's female archers hold all the Olympic records and have won every team gold since the first in 1988. If they win their ninth gold medal in the women's team event in Tokyo, that will tie the longest gold medal streak in all sports at the Olympic Games.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
IOC Task Force promises clean boxing event in TokyoIn charge of rebuilding boxing's Olympic credibility after the judging fiasco in the 2016 Games, the IOC Task Force on Friday promised a clean competition at the mega-event here, warning the referees and judges that even "one injustice" would make the sport's future "dark".International Olympic Committee (IOC) sports director Kit McConnell, chair of the Boxing Task Force (BTF) Watanabe Morinari and head of the BTF Lenny Abbey addressed the media on the eve of the boxing competition, which will feature 289 boxers from 81 countries, nine of them Indian.
"When I go to the referee and judges meeting I will say to the referees and judges that for the future of boxing, if they do one injustice it is dark. If they do the right way then the future of boxing, I will support," Morinari said. The BTF took charge of the sport in 2019 after the IOC suspended the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for financial and administrative mismanagement besides an opaque judging system which had many boxers complaining of unfair treatment. "Everything is being done to not only allow boxing to stay in the Games for Tokyo, but to put the focus on the athletes themselves," McConnell said.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Tokyo Olympics 2020 Schedule
The Tokyo Olympics will feature a record 33 competitions and 339 events. Here is the full schedule. Click here for the full schedule
Aquatic
Swimming : July 24 – August 1
Diving : July 25-28 | July 30 - August 01
Artistic Swimming : August 02 – August 04 | August 06 – August 07
Water Polo : July 24 – August 08
Marathon Swimming : August 04 – August 05
Archery : July 23 – July 31
Athletics
Track & Field : July 30 – August 08
Race Walk : July 30 | August 06 – August 07
Badminton : July 24 – August 02
Baseball : July 28 – August 05
Basketball : July 25 – August 08
Basketball (3x3) : July 24 – July 28
Boxing : July 24 – August 01 | August 03 – August 08
Canoe (Slalom) : July 25 – July 30
Canoe (Sprint) : August 02 – August 07
Cycling
BMX Freestyle : July 31 – August 01
BMX Racing : July 29 – July 30
Mountain Bike : July 26 – July 29
Road : July 24 – July 25 |July 27
Track : August 02 – August 08
Equestrian
Dressage : July 24 – July 25 | July 27 – July 28
Eventing : July 30 – August 02
Jumping : August 03 – August 04 | August 06 – August 07
Fencing : July 24 – August 01
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
India 9th in both men's team and mixed pair rankings; debutant Jadhav best among trioDebutant Pravin Jadhav finished ahead of the experienced Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai as India managed ninth-place finishes in both the men's team and mixed team rankings of the Games archery competition at the Yumenoshima Park here on Friday.Chasing an elusive Olympic medal in archery, India braces for some tough challenges ahead as both men's team and mixed pair are likely to face Korea in the quarterfinals.
The Indian mixed team will open its campaign against eighth-ranked Chinese Taipei, and should it overcome the first-round hurdle, top-seed Korea would be waiting in the last-eight. Likewise, the Indian men's team might run into top-seed Korea, who got a bye into the quarters, should they beat eighth-ranked Kazakhstan in the opening round.
In the individual rankings, all the three Indian male archers finished out of top-30. Jadhav was ahead of Das on number of X counts at the halfway mark where both had scores of 329 before the Maharashtra archer nosed ahead in the final six sets to finish 31st with 656 points out of a maximum 720. Das had a 35th place finish, while former Asian Games silver-medalist Rai, in his third Olympics appearance, took the 37th spot among 64 archers. Taking Jadhav's tally into account with Deepika's 663 in the women's event, India ranked ninth in the mixed team competition where the country has the best-ever medal hope.
Deepika had finished ninth in the women's ranking round earlier in the day.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
US water polo captain Jesse Smith to miss opening ceremonyU.S. men's water polo captain Jesse Smith will miss the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics on Friday after the USOPC limited how many players from his team could participate in the festivities. Olympic water polo rosters consist of 12 players and an alternate who can be activated before any match. The 38-year-old Smith is the alternate for the United States' opening match against Japan on Sunday because it doesn't need as many center defenders against the host country.
Smith wrote on Twitter on Friday that the team was told it could have 12 credentialed athletes walk in the ceremony. A message was left by the The Associated Press seeking comment from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. “I would love to go to the opening ceremonies. It didn't work out. We weren't able to figure out a way,” Smith said during an afternoon new conference. “But fortunately, that happened to me. This is my fifth games. I've walked before. I would love for my kids to be able to see me on TV and see my teammates, and so they're going to go and I'll be cheering them on from the village. I think there's other athletes that are in that situation as well."
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Tokyo protesters demand Olympics cancellationAbout 50 protesters have gathered in Tokyo to demand the cancellation of the Olympics. The opening ceremony is set for Friday evening local time. The protesters gathered outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building chanting “no to the Olympics” and “save people’s lives." They held up signs reading “cancel the Olympics."
The Games, largely without spectators and opposed by much of the host nation, are going ahead a year later than planned. A day earlier, Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases as worries grew of worsening infections during the Games. Still, the number of cases and deaths as a share of the population in Japan are much lower than in many other countries. The opening ceremony will be held mostly without spectators to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections, although some officials, guests and media will attend.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
All eyes on Vikas Krishnan as boxers open Olympic campaign aiming to negotiate difficult drawsThe seasoned Vikas Krishan (69kg) will open India's boxing campaign here on Saturday against local favourite Sewonrets Quincy Mensah Okazawa, just one of the several tricky opponents that the country's pugilists will have to get past as they negotiate a challenging path to the medal rounds.Vikas will be the lone Indian boxer in action on the opening day of boxing competitions at the Ryogoku Kokugikan arena and has therefore opted out of the opening ceremony this evening. The 29-year-old is chasing a medal in what is his third and, in all likelihood, final shot at Olympic glory. (PTI)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Algerian judoka quits Olympics to avoid Israeli opponent
Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics before competing after the draw set him on course for a possible match-up against an Israeli opponent. Nourine was set to face Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool on Monday for his first bout, and would have taken on Israeli Tohar Butbul in the next round.
Speaking to an Algerian television station late Thursday, Nourine said his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete against an Israeli. "We worked a lot to reach the Olympics... but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this," he said, adding that his decision was "final". (AFP)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | South African race walker banned 4 years for doping
South African race walker Lebogang Shange has been banned for four years for doping and will miss the Tokyo Olympics. The former African champion was entered in the men’s 20-kilometer race on Aug. 5. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on the case in Tokyo. The 30-year-old Shange tested positive for the anabolic steroid trenbolone and was provisionally suspended in December 2019. His ban will expire before the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
All athletes in refugee team to join opening ceremonyAll 29 athletes in the Olympic refugee team will march behind the Olympic flag at the Tokyo Games opening ceremony on Friday, an organiser said, to represent the more than 82 million displaced people across the globe. The International Olympic Committee unveiled its first refugee team at the Rio 2016 Olympics to raise awareness of the issue as hundreds of thousands of people poured into Europe from the Middle East and elsewhere escaping conflict and poverty.
"The Olympic refugee team is representing 82.5 million forcibly displaced people and refugees around the world," James Macleod, the IOC's director of Olympic solidarity, told a virtual news conference. "There is a feeling of hope that they can shine a spotlight on this issue." For the Tokyo Games, the team comprised of people from countries including Syria, South Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iran is almost three times as big as the inaugural team at the Rio. (Reuters)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Archery men's ranking round concludes; Pravin Jadhav finishes at 31st spot
Archery men's ranking round concluded.Indian archers started off well but slipped later during the rounds. Pravin Jadhavfinished at 31st spot with 656 points, while Atanu Das slipped to 35th position with 653 points. Tarundeep Rai finished at 37th spot with 653 points. South Korea's Je Deok Kim won the ranking round with a score of 688.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Indian badminton star PV Sindhu feeling the Tokyo pressure
India's badminton superstar PV Sindhu admits that the pressure is on at the Tokyo Olympics and she will be in the firing line. The 26-year-old world champion, who won silver at the Rio 2016 Games, begins her tilt at gold on Sunday against Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova. With Rio champion Carolina Marin out of Tokyo with a serious knee injury, world number seven Sindhu is among the favourites in what looks to be an open field.
"There is definitely a lot of expectation. There are a lot more responsibilities and definitely there will be pressure," said the Indian, reflecting on her status as reigning world champion. "I'm sure a lot of people are going to look for me because, even the last time in 2016 (Rio), I was not a known person. "But I think now people are looking at me and knowing my game.
"I think it's comparatively tough and it's not going to be easy." If Sindhu does win the title in Tokyo she would be just the second individual Olympic gold medallist for India in the history of the Games. In Marin's absence, other contenders for gold include Taiwan's world number one Tai Tzu-ying, China's Chen Yufei and the Japanese duo of Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi. (AFP)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | IOA ropes in Adani Group as sponsor
IOA secretary general Rajiv Mehta, who is in Tokyo, announced the development. "We are Happy to inform you about one more sponsorship which is confirmed by Adani Group to IOA for the Olympics since our last update to you on 16th July," Mehta tweeted.
"Adani has confirmed to us a good sponsorship association and support for future also," he added. The IOA had earlier entered into sponsorship deals with various private entities, including diary giant Amul, mobile gaming platform MPL Sports Foundation, JSW Sports among others. Read more here...
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Google celebrates the Summer Games with ‘biggest interactive’ doodle
Search engine Google hopped on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics trend on July 23 by unveiling what it called the ‘biggest interactive doodle game ever'. The doodle is featured on Google's main search page.
The anime-inspired doodle is similar to a 16-bit adventure game that can be played with different sporting competitions including table tennis, skateboarding, archery and shooting while moving around on an island. Players also have an option to choose either the Blue, Red, Yellow or Green teams, represented by different anime-inspired animals.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Indian archers Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das at 27 and 28th position after 42 shots
After 42 out of the 72 arrows, Indian archersAtanu Das is at 28th place; Pravin Jadhav is at 27th position; Tarundeep Raiis at 45th place and South Korea's Je Deok Kim is leading with a score of 403.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Naomi Osaka’s match pushed back a day
Naomi Osaka’s opening match in the Olympic tennis tournament has been pushed back from Saturday to Sunday. Organizers did not immediately provide a reason for the switch. They said only that the move came from the tournament referee. Osaka was originally scheduled to play 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China in the very first contest of the Games on center court Saturday morning.
One reason for the move could be that Osaka might have a role in the opening ceremony Friday night. That wouldn’t leave her much time to rest before a Saturday morning match. Osaka is returning to competition for the first time in nearly two months after she withdrew from the French Open following the first round to take a mental health break.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Men's Individual Ranking Round underway; South Korea leading
After 36 out of the 72 arrows, Indian archer Atanu Das has a score of 329; Pravin Jadhav has a score of 329;Tarundeep Rai has a score of 323.South Korea's Je Deok Kim is leading with a score of 345
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates | Russian Olympic archer loses consciousness in Tokyo heat
Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva lost consciousness during a competition at the Tokyo Olympics in intense heat. Coach Stanislav Popov says in comments via the Russian Olympic Committee that Gomboeva collapsed shortly after completing the qualifying round Friday.
Popov says “she couldn’t stand it, a whole day in the heat” and adds that humidity made the problem worse. Temperatures in Tokyo were above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit.) The heat in Tokyo’s summer months already prompted organizers to move the marathons and race-walking events to the cooler city of Sapporo.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 LIVE Updates |
Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra not to attend opening ceremonyIndian paddlers A Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra have decided against attending the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday as they open their mixed doubles campaign the following day.The names of both the players were there in the list of participants at the opening ceremony but as it turns out, it was an error on the part of the Indian officials who compiled the list. The Asian Games bronze-medallist play the mighty Chinese Taipei pairing of Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching in the round of 16 match on Saturday.
The pair from Chinese Taipei is seeded third and is currently number one in world rankings. Instead of 20 athletes, 19 will be seen at the ceremony with tennis player Ankita Raina replacing the table tennis stars. Six officials will accompany them. Boxing great M C Mary Kom and Indian hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh will be the flag-bearers at Japan National Stadium.
