Tokyo Olympics 2020: Naomi Osaka lights cauldron at opening ceremony

12.01am BST

This is the end of Day 0 of the 2020 Olympics. Please join me as we kick off the live blog for Day 1.

To mark the occasion, check out the US gymnasts’ very own opening ceremony.

Had to do our own private USA Opening Ceremony! pic.twitter.com/4DFaAcWXUD

11.52pm BST

Can any cyclist stand up to the Dutch women’s machine?

Lizzie Diegnan plans to give it a go at least one more time:

11.45pm BST

Christine Brennan, my colleague when I was at USA! USA! USA Today and one of the most distinguished voices on Olympic sports, is not at all happy about the century of unvaccinated US athletes:

Nearly 100 U.S. athletes in Tokyo are unvaccinated. What a selfish act with their USA teammates and others all around them. This and more in a few minutes on ⁦@CNNSitRoom⁩. (And yes, I was awake a couple of hours ago in the stadium.) https://t.co/lC9bjayuYA

11.32pm BST

What’s the next Olympic sport?

You may be confused how skateboarding & surfing got into the Tokyo Olympics.
And in 2024, they’re adding… breakdancing.
So in today’s episode, we explained that process—with help from the man whose life goal is to get Ultimate Frisbee into the Olympics.https://t.co/PDL9PBoDBt

11.20pm BST

Sha’Carri Richardson’s shadow will loom over these Olympics after the sprinter, poised to be the breakout star of the Games with her flamboyant fashion sense and earth-shaking speed, was suspended and left off the US team after a positive test for THC, not known as a performance-enhancing drug unless you play 30-minute guitar solos.

She’s currently trending on Twitter, in large part due to a coincidental story about Megan Rapinoe and other athletes hawking a CBD product.

I’m sure Sha’carri Richardson can’t wait to hear about this…

10.53pm BST

The heat and humidity took their toll on Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva during her qualifying round Friday. She collapsed as she finished the event, which sorts out who faces whom when the Big Dance starts.

Quick reminder: Russian athletes are competing as “Russian Olympic Committee” or “ROC” while the country continues its feud with the World Anti-Doping Agency No word yet on whether they’ll adopt the Twisted Sister tune “I Wanna Rock” as their anthem

10.39pm BST

Athletes in, athletes out …

Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine has withdrawn from the Olympics due to the possibility that he could face Israeli athlete Tohar Butbul early in the draw. He did the same thing in 2019. The International Judo Federation suspended Iran from competition for four years for similar infractions, and there are indeed no Iranian judokas competing in Tokyo.

10.30pm BST

Not sure which is more impressive here … the surfer or the photographer.

Two-time @wsl world champ @TeamUSA #Olympic surfer @johnjohnflorenc finding form in pic.twitter.com/pw2sDiVVmh

10.14pm BST

Elsewhere in the sports world …

Harry Kane isn’t leaving Spurs. Or so the Tottenham directors say.

10.04pm BST

Thank you Tom, and unlike so many relay runners of the past, I pledge not to drop the baton.

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and that would be where I am, on the East Coast of the United States in a secure bunker. (Also known as my basement, where I will spend the next 16 days trying not to wake anyone else.)

10.01pm BST

And as dawn beckons in Japan I’ll hand you over to Beau Dure, who’ll take you through to the beginning of the actual action. Enjoy.

9.57pm BST

A piece on the 17-year-old US swimming prodigy Claire Curzan, who competes in the 100m butterfly tomorrow, and her journey from an outdoor community pool in Cary, North Carolina to the biggest stage of all:

9.43pm BST

One of tomorrow’s more anticipated events for British viewers is Team GB women’s footballers’ second group match, against Japan in Saporro. There’ll be no home crowd roaring on their opponents but it’ll still be a stern test. Going into the match, Suzanne Wrack talked to Keira Walsh about dealing with criticism, working with psychologists and life under Hege Riise’s management.

9.28pm BST

Twenty for 2020 (+1): Nick Ames has picked 20 Olympians to watch, from established stars such as Simone Biles, Ashleigh Barty and Katie Ledecky to the Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus and the American teenage BMX rider Hannah Roberts.

9.05pm BST

Here’s another reminder of what’s coming up early on Saturday, day one of the Olympics:

The first gold medal will be awarded in the women’s 10m air rifle, which will conclude around 3am BST (11am Tokyo time).

8.44pm BST

Anna Burnet, niece of the great New Zealand yachtsman Peter Blake, and John Gimson will compete for Team GB in the mixed Nacra in Tokyo, confident in adding to an illustrious British sailing record at the Games. Ewan Murray has more:

8.31pm BST

The US fencer Alen Hadzic is to be kept apart from team in Tokyo after sexual misconduct claims. Team USA’s men’s épée alternate lost his appeal to move into the Olympic Village, according to a report from USA Today. Here’s our story:

8.20pm BST

Thanks Niall. And let’s have a cultural angle on today’s unique opening ceremony, from the Guardian’s chief theatre critic Arifa Akbar:

No Mexican waves, hugging athletes or self-indulgent shows of exhibitionism. Tokyo stayed in keeping with the global mood and showed us that less really can be more.

8.13pm BST

Time for me to hand over to Tom Davies, who will guide you through the next couple of hours. Thanks for joining me, and wherever you’re watching, enjoy the sport.

7.56pm BST

Reminder: you can sign up for the Tokyo 2020 daily briefing email here, to get a dose of Olympic news, comment and other entertainment at 5pm (BST) every day of the Games.

7.51pm BST

After winning four gold medals in Rio, Simone Biles is expected to light up another Olympics in Tokyo – particularly with a boundary-breaking new move, the Yurchenko double pike, in her repertoire. Read more on how she does it, and why gymnastics should do more to encourage her kind of innovation:

7.25pm BST

Team GB came second in the Rio medals table but are taking a more measured approach to the Olympics this time – and it’s a welcome change, writes Sean Ingle.

7.10pm BST

One for your bookmarks: our Tokyo 2020 interactive daily schedule lets you see all the action, go sport-by-sport or focus on where medals will be won. You can also browse start lists, standings, results and the medal table. What are you waiting for?

6.58pm BST

It’s been barely three hours since Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron inside the main stadium, but it has already been relocated to its waterfront home throughout the Games.

Former badminton player Ayaka Takahashi did the honours next to the Yume no Ohashi bridge. The public are being urged to keep their distance, but it at least offers a chance to glimpse the Olympic flame with most events closed to the public.

6.49pm BST

The Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, offers a local view of the opening ceremony:

The light applause that greeted the end of each act and the constant buzz of police helicopters were not quite enough to drown out the distant shouts of protesters who had gathered at sunset to repeat their calls for the Games to be called off. But most of the people lining the streets outside the stadium were not there to object, but simply to watch and listen, to be present at the start of the most controversial Olympic Games in living memory.

6.41pm BST

Sean Ingle reports from the Olympic Stadium, where the opening ceremony moved from solemn to spectacular despite a lack of spectators:

6.26pm BST

Here is Barney Ronay on Covid-19, Tokyo 2020 and sport’s greatest show going on:

There has been an urge to compare these Games to previous imperilled versions, from the make-do-and-mend of 1920 to the horrors of Mexico, and more hopefully the austerity games of 1948, when the torch came down the Thames in a rowing boat and everyone just got on with it. But this isn’t really like that, because it isn’t really like anything.

6.14pm BST

Britain’s Adam Peaty is going for gold in the 100m breaststroke with the final on Monday. Peaty has won this event at Rio 2016 and the last three world Championships. He has also broken the world record five times in five years and holds the 17 fastest event times in history. Andy Bull has more:

6.04pm BST

Here is Martin Belam’s first Daily Briefing from the Tokyo Games, and a very enjoyable read it is too. Martin will be putting one of these together every day of the Olympics, and quite possibly not sleeping at all until 8 August as a result. Give it a look:

5.58pm BST

In women’s football, Team GB face Japan in Sapporo (11.30am BST) having won their opening group match against Chile. Hege Riise’s team is dominated by England players but Scotland’s Kim Little and Caroline Weir have built a formidable midfield partnership, as Suzanne Wrack explains:

5.50pm BST

Naomi Osaka has said lighting the Olympic torch in Tokyo is “undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honor I will ever have in my life,” in a post on Instagram that has racked up more than 200,000 likes in 45 minutes.

5.44pm BST

What’s coming up early on Day 1 in Tokyo, I hear you ask. Here are some highlights. All times are BST; Tokyo is nine hours ahead but you can see start times for wherever you are in our interactive schedule.

The Games’ youngest competitor, 12-year-old Hend Zaza of Syria, competes in table tennis (1.45am BST). Elsewhere, Andy Murray begins his quest for another Olympic gold in the men’s doubles tennis alongside Joe Salisbury (3am BST).

5.24pm BST

One of the hottest topics in the lead-up to Tokyo has been Rule 50, and specifically changes that restrict athletes’ right to protest at the Olympics. While the IOC has partially back-tracked, as it stands athletes are not allowed to protest on the medal podium.

As the Games begin, a group of more than 150 athletes and academics have called for change. They include John Carlos and Tommie Smith, whose 1968 podium protest remains one of the Olympics’ most enduring images.

5.12pm BST

The opening ceremony was a sombre, sparse affair in places but there was still space for video game music, Armani tracksuits and drones, drones, drones. Martin Belam rounds up the key moments:

5.08pm BST

She may not be a household name, but Oksana Chusovitina is part of Olympic history. The Uzbek gymnast is about to compete in her eighth Olympic Games, having first taken part in Barcelona 1992.

4.47pm BST

In case you missed it, here are some of the best images from what was an understated but quietly impressive opening ceremony.

4.40pm BST

If you want to keep up-to-date with all the latest news and action from Tokyo, why not sign up for our Daily Briefing email? The next one goes out at 5pm BST, so in about 20 minutes. Sign up right here:

4.38pm BST

Meanwhile, Barney Ronay takes a look at Team GB and how the relentless pursuit of gold has left grass roots sport behind:

“The gold medal culture needs reforming: the fetishising of gold, the enthroning of the gold medal as the key measure of all sporting value, a driver of policy, resources and who ultimately gets to play.”

4.29pm BST

Get up to speed with all the big Tokyo 2020 questions with Simon Burnton’s Olympic primer:

4.24pm BST

Some cycling news: the men’s road race takes place at 3am BST, 11am local time on Saturday, but one man who won’t be at the start line is Simon Geschke, after the German rider tested positive for Covid-19.

Geschke, who was set to be part of a four-man German team, had been staying away from the Olympic village with a group of other cyclists, all of who have initially tested negative for Covid.

4.13pm BST

Thanks Barry, and a shout to your good self for a marathon live-blogging effort. So, what happens now? It’s ten past midnight in Tokyo and officially Day 1 of the Games – we’ll keep you updated with news and global reaction to the opening ceremony, plus what to look out for in the first few days.

4.01pm BST

Sayōnara. And after all that excitement, it’s time for me to sayt goodbye and take a long lie-down in the darkened room. But while I might pause for some respite, the Guardian’s Olympic blog will do no such thing. Niall McVeigh is next up in the hot-seat.

Before I go, a massive shout-out to my colleague Steven Bloor, who did so much to bring what would have been an otherwise very dreary rolling report to life with all the beautiful photographs from the opening ceremopny that have been added for your viewing pleasure.

3.51pm BST

There endeth the opening ceremony: Low on bombast but high on a combination of quiet dignity and mawkish schmalz, our opening ceremony closes. It was a very respectful ceremony; one that understandably palled in comparison to previous versions.

3.49pm BST

Mount Fuji: Tennis champion Naomi Osaka takes the torch from our team of kids and jogs up the steps to the summit of the temporary Mount Fuji that’s been erected in the stadium. Following her recent travails and admissions of mental frailty, who better than her to do the honours? And to be clear, no … it’s you who is crying. Naomi Osaka lights the cauldron, built in the shape of a flower with its petals open. Let the Games begin!

3.45pm BST

Slowly but surely. We’re getting there. The flame makes its way across the stadium, a doctor and nurse taking temporary possession. They’re loving it! They positively bound towards a seven-times Japanese Paralympian, waving enthusiastically to all present. She hands over to a team of schoolkids.

Our medics are, I’m told by reader Emmling, “from the areas most affected by the 3-11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown ten years ago”.

3.42pm BST

Another montage: This time it’s of the Olympic torch relay. It’s been a longer one than we’re used too. The montage over, the Olympic flame emerges from the bowels of the studio carried by two Japanese athletes: former wrestler Saori Yoshida and judo player Tadahiro Nomura. They pass it on to a selection of other retired Japanese sporting legends with Ravel’s Bolero as the soundtrack.

3.35pm BST

Attention returns to the infield area of the stadium. To lively piano accompaniment, a cartoonish Japanese super hero sporting what looks like a Samurai sword on his waist appears. Where is he going? Where is this going?

3.33pm BST

It’s time to light the lights: A Japanese comedian whose name I must confess escaped me is shown messing about in the control room with a former figure skater as he switches on lights in various Olympic venues around the city and country. It’s a good montage and now … there’s just one light left to go.

3.30pm BST

Dan speaks the truth: And I’d like to think I deserve at least a bronze. They only have to talk over pictures thewir BBC audience can see … and can just say nothing during some of the more bewildering performances of interpretative dance.

Give Hazel Irvine & Andrew Cotter a pair of gold medals for the last few hours
Brilliant coverage of the #OpeningCeremony of the #Olympics

3.28pm BST

Time for another montage: Because there’s always time for another montage, right? This time it’s a series of 50 pictograms coming to life to represent each of the different Olympic sports. I won’t lie, it’s difficult to explain, even by the standards of opening ceremonies but there are now two performers dressed as blue and white stickpeople out there having an absolute whale of a time going through their various carefully choreographed motions.

Today’s #FontSunday @DesignMuseum theme: pictograms.

See the difference 56 years makes to #Olympic designs: Tokyo 1964 and Tokyo 2020 #Japan

Nice read from @CreativeReview about the 2020 pictograms here: https://t.co/3a5x3j8g5l

1/ pic.twitter.com/nokDSqeNWf

3.23pm BST

The release of doves: Thousands of paper doves are released from on high. Doves from above, if you will. A niche gag for Vic & Bob fans there.

3.20pm BST

The Olympic flag: To orchestral accompaniment (those musicians must be exhausted by now!) assorted members of Japan’s defence forces receive the flag and march up some steps, where they hoist it on a pole next to that flying the colours of Japan. Cue: the Olympic anthem.

3.16pm BST

Thomas Bach: “The pandemic forced us apart, to keep our distance from each other. To stasy away even from our loved ones. This separation made this tunnel so dark. But today, wherever in the world you may be we’re united in sharing this moment together. The Olympic flame makes this light shine brighter for all of us.”

He goes on to invite Emperor Naruhito to declare the Games open. The emperor duly obliges and the Olympic flag with its five rings is brought into the stadium. It’s carried by an athglete from each of the five continents represented by the rings, along with a member of the Refugee Olympic team.

3.12pm BST

Although … it does look worryingly like the Death Star.

That’s no moon…it’s a #Tokyo2020 drone display! #Olympics | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/bIGD4UonPO

3.09pm BST

The undisputed highlight of the opening ceremony: As Bach drones on, let’s give it up for some more impressive and interesting droning.

Drone appreciation post!

1,824 drones light up the sky above the Olympic Stadium as the #Tokyo2020 emblem seamlessly becomes a revolving globe. #StrongerTogether #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/mcGteqdJ7n

3.08pm BST

Thomas Bach: The IOC chief continues, thanking the Games’ sponsors, many of whom have bent over backwards to distance themselves from the very ceremony he is addressing. Talk turns to solidarity …

3.02pm BST

Thomas Bach: The IOC boss greets the assembled dignataries and Olympic friends before welcoming to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. “Today is a moment of hope,” he begins. “Yes it is very different but let us cherish this moment. We are all here together.”

3.00pm BST

Seiko Hashimoto: Still at the podium, with IOC chief Thomas Bach to follow, Seiko is a Japanese politician, former speed skater and track cyclist.

2.58pm BST

A speech: Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games gives a speech. What a stressful time she must have had in recent years. Peace, love, understanding and the difficulties of staging the games at this difficult time all get a mention. She thanks the athletes for turning up to participate and wishes them all the best.

2.52pm BST

Hang on! That’s John Legend. And his performance? Well, suffice to say, it’s not the first time John Lennon has been murdered. His memory deserves better than this hammery.

2.51pm BST

This is impressive: Impressive and a little mawkish. The drones above the stadium form a globe while the kids below begin a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine. They’re joined on the big screen by assorted more senior singers from around the globe who I should probably recognise but don’t.

2.47pm BST

“Hang on, wackiness!” observes the BBC’s Andrew Cotter as some cartoonish thespians play out some sort of “skit” ahead of a performance entitled “unity and diversity” performed by some kids. I don’t know about Andrew and Hazel but I have no idea what is going on. I’ll wait for them to let me know. Ah, they’re forming the Tokyo 2020 chequered emblem with giant building blocks. Above the stadium in the night sky, 1,800 illuminated drones replicate the design. That’s some seriously impressive formation flying right there.

2.42pm BST

The Olympic oath: Five Japanese athletes from assorted sports read the Olympic oath before the Olympic flag is hoisted next to it’s Japanese counterpart. Cue: another cheesy montage …

2.39pm BST

The Olympic motto: There’s a late addition to the Olympic motto which illuminates the floor in the middle of the arena. It reads: “Faster, higher, stronger, together” and is accompamnied by more pyrotechnics.

2.36pm BST

Japan: The hosts arrive in their hundreds with Yui Susaki (wrestling) and Rui Hachimura (basketball) given the huge honour of bearing the host nation’s flag at their home games. That’s yer lot as far as the parade is concerned. The last of the formalities are upon us, including – one presumes – more speechifying and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

2.33pm BST

The Americans are here! Led by Sue Bird (basketball) and Eddy Alvarez (baseball), the USA march out mob-handed. They’re followed by France and finally …

2.30pm BST

The orchestral medley: Reader Tom has been busy trying to identify the Japanese video game theme tunes that are soundtracking the parade and he has done a cracking job. “A translation of most of the song list from the article listed earlier,” he says. “Missing ones I couldn’t find the English name for.”

2.28pm BST

Jordan: We’re into the 190s now, with the end mercifully nigh. They’re followed by Laos and Latvia. Tennis player Jelena Ostapenko, a former French Open champion, and basketball player Agnis Cavars carry the flag for them.

2.18pm BST

Portugal: Their flag-bearers Telma Monteiro and Nelson Évora dance out excitedly, with Evora looking like he’s trying to wrestle the pole from his team-mate. Next out are Hong Kong, who boast a swimmer with the decidedly Irish name of Siobhan Bernadette Haughey. Her father is Irish and according to Wikipedia, she is a grand-niece of the former Irish prime minister Charles Haughey. He was famojusly fond of the water too and owned his own yacht called Celtic Mist.

2.14pm BST

Poland: Their athletes walk out, minus the six swimmers their team bosses had to send home earlier this week because they picked too many by mistake. No, really.

2.09pm BST

On we go: There are no end of endurance events in the Olympics and the opening ceremony parade is arguably the most gruelling of them all. The team of local greeters welcoming each delegation out on to the infield must be exhausted at this stage but their enthusiasm remains undimmed. Many of the athletes are having a well-earned lie-down in the evening heat. Vietnam are the latest to arrive, they’re 157th out of 206.

2.04pm BST

Vanuatu: Rower Rillo Rii leads out the three-strong Vanuatu team and with a physique like his it’s no surprise he’s elected to go topless with a slathering of oil too. The man is an adonis and was in action out on the water earlier today, so it may be sweat, rather than oil.

1.57pm BST

More on the Japanese alphabet: “Just wanted to add a slight correction to Hazel’s email,” writes Tom. “While the UK is usually referred to as Igirisu, they walked out in this ceremony under the name ‘Eikoku’, which is a more formal and older name for the UK mostly only used in newspapers today. This is why they were next to countries beginning with E.”

1.55pm BST

Tonga: Brisbane born Taekwondo fighter Pita Taufatofua has had his toned torso oiled up to within an inch of his life as he walks out in traditional Tongan dress. He’s sporting what I believe they call a tupenu, a kind of sarong.

He’s here! Pita Taufatofua#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/cxnjBs71EJ

1.52pm BST

Turkmenistan: Wearing green shirts and white trousers, the athletes of Turkmenistan walk out. With a population of five million people, they have yet to win an Olympic medal.

1.46pm BST

China: One of the larger teams march out in to the arena and I can reveal they are 109th out of 206. Volleyball player Zhu Ting and taekwondo fighter Zhao Shuai bear their flag with pride.

1.43pm BST

1.37pm BST

The teams continue to come out thick and fast. And thank you to reader Mikako Onozaka, who emailed a minute ago to say she reckons we’re just past halfway. Halfway?!?!?!

“Rwanda, Lesotho and Lebanon will be the last to come out in alphabetical order, followed by the US, France, and Japan,” he tells me. And if, like me, you are ashamed of your geographical ignorance – from Wikipedia: “Lesotho, a high-altitude, landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa, is crisscrossed by a network of rivers and mountain ranges including the 3,482m-high peak of Thabana Ntlenyana.”

1.31pm BST

Jamaica: Sprinting legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and boxer Ricardo Brown lead out Team Jamaica. Such is the disparity in their heights, the diminutive Fraser-Pryce leaves the flag-bearing duties to the giant Brown, electing instead to link the crook of his arm.

1.26pm BST

Nice to see the athletes parade; but the Opening ceremony definitely had the theme “We are not into this”; or possibly “Will This Do?”

1.25pm BST

An email: “My wife and I have only recognised a few tunes (most notably Sonic, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts) but the Japanese media has reported on the game list here,” writes Sophie. Google might throw up a few interesting translations.

1.22pm BST

Every day’s a schoolday: “I don’t know if anyone has already emailed in about this, but as Japanese doesn’t have an ‘alphabet’ as such, it looks like they’re using the order for the hiragana/katakana syllabary, which they use to spell syllabically all the countries,” writes Hazel.

“This means we start with the vowels (a, i, u, e, o) and then the consonants followed by the vowels in that order (k/g, s/z, t/d, n, h/b/p, m, y, r, w). Any countries which have a Japanese name (including the UK, ‘Igirisu’) will fit in at the relevant place, presumably. Any scholars of Japanese feel free to correct me! Hope this helps.”

1.19pm BST

Australia: “Sixty-three Australian athletes have marched out into the Olympic Stadium, led by flag bearers Patty Mills and Cate Campbell,” writes Kieran Pender, who is there to see them. “Mills, an Australian of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, is the first Indigenous Australian to carry the flag at an Olympic Games. It is a symbolic moment for the country, which has a sad history of discriminating against its Indigenous population.”

1.15pm BST

An email: With regard to the arrival of the athletes being soundtracked by an orchestral medley of video games soundtracks, Karen Bridgen writes.

“My son and I are trying to play ‘Name That Game’,” she says. “The combination of orchestral music and people talking all over it is making it almost impossible. Someone needs to do a list ASAP.”

1.09pm BST

Kazakhstan: The infield continues to fill up as the Kazakhstan delegation march out wearing turquoise trews with slightly darker blazers. Next up it’s Qatar.

1.06pm BST

Due to the herculean efforts of those on our picture desk, you are now invited to look at what actually happened during the opening ceremony and laugh at how little relation it bears to what I described happening in this all-singing, all-dancing gallery.

12.59pm BST

Team GB emerge: Sailor Hannah Mills and rower Mohamed Sbihi lead out the British delegation. Just 22 of their army are present in the stadium tonight. They’re all looking quite smart in navy blazers with striped sleeves over white shirts, with greyish whitish trousers. Then again, they may be ludicrously untrendy – I have no sense of style. Social media will judge them and possibly judge them harshly.

12.55pm BST

Uganda: Out they come dressed wonderfully in red and gold.

“The mention of rowing earlier reminds me of one of my favorite stories of this Olympics so far,” writes Kari Tulinus. “Rower Kathleen Noble, who was born in Uganda to Irish missionaries and grew up there, is representing the country of her birth at these Olympics. She didn’t qualify directly for the single sculls quarter-finals this morning, but did well enough to earn a second try in the repechage, setting a national record in the process.”

12.53pm BST

Team GB: They’re due out 28th and we’re getting through the various countries at an uncharacteristically fast and merciful clip.

12.52pm BST

The order: With the exception of Greece, who traditionally march out first, the nations are being introduced in the order of the Japanese alphabet … which I don’t know. Anyway, whatever the order, Italy are the latest to emerge and are giving Argentina a run for their money in the skittishness stakes. The more sombre and considerably smaller Iraqi delegation, comprised of five people, follow them.

12.46pm BST

Some reader feedback: As the teams continue to pour out into the arena with commendable speed, it’s time to dip into the mailbag …

“One of the (few) benefits of interpretive dance is that it shouldn’t need to be interpreted,” writes Simon. “Doesn’t seem to have stopped the BBC commentary team from trying though. I wish they’d bloody shut up and let me enjoy the music and stuff.”

12.42pm BST

Ireland are out: The Irish delegation walk out, a vision in … you’ve guessed it, green. Boxers Kellie Harrington and Brendan Irvine wave the the tricolour proudly, their wide grins of delight all too apparent despite being covered by masks.

12.40pm BST

The athletes are in the wings: Well, those few that are attending the opening ceremony are. To an orchestral medley of assorted Japanese video game themes (Dragon Quest is first), Greece march out.

12.38pm BST

Half an hour in and this opening ceremony feels like it’s been running since 2020.

12.36pm BST

That silence. You could hear a pin drop. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/jxXrjcnYXV

12.33pm BST

Every time there is a lull in the music at the Opening Ceremony, the noise from the demonstration against the Games happening outside becomes clearly audible.

12.32pm BST

Rhythm is a dancer: Kazunori Kumagai, the Japanese Michael Flatley (except without the bouffant), does some solo tap before being re-joined by his fellow carpenters. Five giant wooden Olympic rings, hewn from the wood of pine and spruce trees planted to mark the 1964 Olympics and illuminated by paper lanterns are wheeled out in to the stadium.

12.28pm BST

The rhythms of tradition: The Japanese work song Komari Uttar is sung by a team of uniformed and hard-grafting carpenters (well, dancers pretending to be carpenters) on a series of wooden platforms that have been wheeled centre-stage.

12.24pm BST

A hugely downbeat ceremony so far: Solemnity, gloom and darkness seem to be the prevailing colours, themes and colours of this particular curtain-raiser, in stark contrast to the massive celebratory vibes of opening ceremonies passim.

12.22pm BST

A moment of reflection: There’s a pause for those who are no longer with us, particularly those who died due to the Coivd virus. Here’s hoping the staging of these Games doesn’t add too significantly to the global tally.

12.20pm BST

The Japanese flag has entered the Olympic stadium ️ at the #Tokyo2020 #OpeningCeremony #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/WjcL2zeX8U

12.20pm BST

The National Anthem: Various members of Japan’s defence forces bring the flag to the pole, where it will be solemnly raised to the soundtrack of the national anthem, Kimi Ga Yo.

12.16pm BST

Bah humbug corner. Barney is such a cynic …

Tokyo is not “sending a message of resilience and hope”. It’s sending a message of massive contracts signed and political capital staked, making the best of an obligation. Deeply phoney to pretend otherwise

12.16pm BST

Some VIPS: Japanese Emperor Naruhito and IOC president Thomas Bach share a greeting which is followed by the introduction of the Japanese flag to the arena. It is carried by an assortment of Japanese Olympic greats of yore.

12.13pm BST

Some dancing: As I struggle to find words to adequately describe the beautiful, poised and elegant low key choreography of the dance troupe currently performing in the arena, Hazel comes up trumps. “Quiet, intimate and empathetic,” she says, possibly reading from notes.

12.10pm BST

BBC: The BBC coverage is being helmed by Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter, with Irvine in the role of straightman. Having become famous during lockdown as the straightman to his two adorable labradors Olive and Mabel, Cotter is revelling in his role as gagsman on this commentary.

12.07pm BST

Early fireworks: The countdown ends with a pyrotechnics display, the outer rim of the stadium exploding in a shower of multi-coloured sparks. On the stadium floor, assorted “athletes” train in solitude, pedalling stationary bikes. The lights on the floor portray – reporter checks non-existent notes – the changing of the seasons.

12.05pm BST

An early nod to Covid: Well that didn’t take long and it’s no surprise. The elephant in the room is addressed as we briefly fade to inky black before seeing a montage of athletes who were forced into training in isolation … before the countdown to Tokyo began again.

12.02pm BST

We begin with an orchestral performance soundtracking a motif of a seed germinating followed by a montage of athletes preparing for a Games that has been eight years in the making …

12.00pm BST

We are mere moments away from the beginning of the opening ceremony for Tokyo 2020 …

11.52am BST

11.45am BST

Tokyo 1964: My colleague Dave Tindall has alerted me to this footage of the Tokyo 1964 opening ceremony. “The Americans were quite the sight in their stetsons,” he says. See 16:52 onwards.

11.41am BST

Rowing: “Morning, any chance of a summary of the rowing heats from this morning?” asks Rae. We’ll have a summary along at some point, Rae – but in the meantime you can find the early rowing heats results and schedules for other sports here.

11.35am BST

The opening ceremony: A British delegation of just 22, including flag bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi, will march at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics, according to PA Sport.

Athletes from canoe slalom, fencing, weightlifting, sailing, boxing, rowing and trampolining will feature in the curtain-raiser.

11.32am BST

Think I’ve heard more pious fluff in the opening two minutes of the BBC olympic coverage than in my entire existence to that point. It’s definitely close anyway

11.31am BST

This just in: “The British Olympic Association is resigned to the fact that six Team GB athletes will spend 14 days in enforced quarantine after failing in its attempts to spring them out,” writes Sean Ingle.

11.20am BST

Shooting: Of course, actual shooting is an Olympic sport and in 25-year-old Seonaid McIntosh, Team GB have a potential winner of the very first gold of the games tomorrow morning. Greg Wood caught up with the 25-year-old to … em, shoot the breeze.

11.16am BST

Your questions: With less than an hour to go until the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020, you may well have some Games-related questions that need to be answered. Fear not, while troubleshooting is not yet an Olympic sport, if it was Simon Burnton would almost certainly win gold …

11.10am BST

Join Martin Belam for a daily run through of the action from Tokyo during the Olympics and Paralympics.

The Tokyo 2020 daily briefing newsletter will run daily through the Olympics from Thursday 22 July to Monday 9 August, and then daily from Monday 23 August to Monday 6 September for the Paralympics.

11.05am BST

11.02am BST

Another email: “The answer to Niall O’Keefe’s email is: NBC,” writes Andrew from Tokyo.

10.56am BST

The weather: For anyone who might be interested, it’s currently 29 degrees celsius with humidity at 65% in Tokyo, where the local time is 6pm … writes reporter from South London bunker.

10.53am BST

An email: “I lived in Tokyo for three years and I also visited for the 2002 World Cup,” writes Niall O’Keefe. “Due to the humidity, most games were after 17:00 local time. The 1988 All about Seoul Olympics were also held in September to avoid the brutal heat. For God’s sake, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics were held in October given the milder weather then. So what clown – has to be an IOC minion – pushed for the hottest time of the year for 2020?”

10.42am BST

Swimming: “The nine-day Olympic swimming schedule, which kicks off with the first heats on Saturday evening, is set to be dominated by the rivalry between swimming powerhouses Australia and the United States,” writes Kieran Pender in Tokyo.

10.39am BST

The opening ceremony: “An unusual amount of uncertainty hangs over the entire enterprise,” writes Simon Burnton. “Many ceremonies have been touted as genuinely innovative before following a familiar pattern, but the kind of intensively-rehearsed, bewilderingly-synchronised mass choreography they have traditionally relied on is precisely the kind of thing the Covid pandemic has made particularly difficult to arrange, which added to the event’s uniquely problematic gestation might leave them with no choice but to actually try something completely different.”

10.35am BST

This is as close as the public can get to tonight’s opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics amid a 4th state of emergency.
Attendees at the National Stadium restricted to less than a thousand VIPs; the Emperor of Japan & the US First Lady among them pic.twitter.com/FfqlEgaxPz

10.29am BST

Kieran Pender reports from the Olympic Stadium: “The press contingent is growing at the Olympic Stadium with two hours until the main event. Us scribes and photographers – plus Tokyo 2020 officials – are the only ones lucky enough to be watching this spectacle live.

“It feels rather surreal to be in a cavernous stadium, ahead of a grand event, with an audience numbering in the low thousands. Not that the media are too happy about our privilege; the wifi is down and there is much grumbling (this dispatch coming to you from my phone’s hotspot). Interesting times ahead, wifi or not.”

10.22am BST

Team USA. “As restraints on freedom of movement for participants during these pandemic Olympics generate headlines,” writes Tom Dart in Tokyo. “Limits on freedom of expression will also be under scrutiny as athletes speak out, with some likely to test the boundaries of what organisers will tolerate by making their points on the podium.”

10.15am BST

Athletics: “Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s fight for heptathlon gold with the defending champion, Belgium’s Nafi Thiam, was expected to be one of the battles of the Games, but she is again facing uncertainty after being struck by an achilles injury at the end of last year,” writes Alexandra Topping.

10.07am BST

10.06am BST

Thank you Emma. And kon’nichiwa to all our readers, wherever in the wide world of sport you might be. So, who else is feeling very Olympic today? With less than two hours to go until what promises to be an uncharacteristically low key opening ceremony, here’s a taste of what to expect.

“It will be a much more sobering ceremony, nevertheless with beautiful Japanese aesthetics,” said Marco Balich, an adviser to the executive producer for Tokyo. “Very Japanese but also in sync with the sentiment of today, the reality. We have to do our best to complete this unique and hopefully the only one of its kind Olympics.”

9.56am BST

Interesting that this is part of the Olympic Twitter account’s selected content, given Usain Bolt’s 100m world record could very well fall at these Games if the hype around the super spikes comes to be realised on the athletics track.

It all starts today!

Here is our most viewed video of the past year while we wait for the Opening Ceremony!

Usain Bolt’s 100m Olympic record. ⚡pic.twitter.com/s24P98aOjv

9.47am BST

I have half-waded into some of the many questions around these Games, both on and off the field of play, but turns out I needn’t have bothered because Simon Burnton has written a far more succinct snapshot of everything you could possibly need to know. Behold.

9.39am BST

We’ve already covered who won’t be at the opening ceremony, but I’ll tell you who will be there: Jill Biden. Joe Biden’s wife is on her first solo international trip as US first lady, arriving in Tokyo on Thursday for a whirlwind 48-hour trip full of official duties which include a virtual “get-together” with members of Team USA and hosting a US v Mexico softball watch party.

9.27am BST

The 11th-hour postponement of Naomi Osaka’s opening singles match from Saturday to Sunday has caused a flurry of speculation on social media about whether Japan’s four-time major singles champion is set for a big role in the opening ceremony.

Afrer a tough year, the host nation’s highest-profile athlete and the world’s highest-earning female athlete returns to competition in Tokyo. The identity of the final torchbearer is always the Games’ most closely held secret, yet speculation has swirled for months around baseball players Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani.

9.04am BST

Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun reports several people have had their credentials revoked for violating the Games’ “playbook” of rules to contain Covid-19 cases. The Tokyo organising committee said it had invalidated each offender’s accreditation for a day, meaning they cannot enter an Olympic venue.

Organisers said it had given them several warnings but would not specify details of the apparent violations or their nationalities. They said they will patrol convenience stores around designated hotels more closely, and have also removed signs which were unclear because they may be interpreted as allowing those in roles related to the Olympics to leave their hotel for 15 minutes, even during isolation.

8.53am BST

Speaking of surfing, one of our reporters in Tokyo, Tumaini Carayol, offers an insightful preview to whet the appetite.

8.51am BST

There are some pretty – dare I say – rad photos coming through from Tsurigasaki beach, where surfers are training ahead of the sport’s Olympic debut from Sunday, pending surf conditions.

8.36am BST

Some sport!

ICYMI, there is already competition under way, namely in the football, softball, archery, shooting and rowing. In the latter, the men’s single sculls heats have run today at the Sea Forest Waterway. Hot and blustery conditions are the order of the day down there, and ice packs and air conditioning are a permanent fixture at the sun-soaked course.

8.24am BST

Update on Australia’s showjumping cocaine case. Australia’s showjumpers Edwina Tops-Alexander and Katie Laurie will be allowed to compete in the individual equestrian competition at Tokyo 2020, after their teammate Jamie Kermond was sent home after his anti-doping sample tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine. Kermond later released a statement saying he was “extremely upset and remorseful” and attributed the June positive test to “a single recreational use of the drug at a social event”.

8.17am BST

This is a good opening ceremony preview from Justin McCurry on the ground in Tokyo.

8.16am BST

This will be an opening ceremony like no other. And I don’t necessarily mean in a wondrous sense. Peculiar is probably a more apt word. Sure, it was even unusual five years ago when then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe dressed up as Super Mario in Rio to introduce Tokyo as the next Olympics host city.

Now it is a whole new kind of bizarre. No crowd will be inside the New National Stadium to watch yet-to-be-revealed artistic performances. There will also be some other big names missing, including one Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the whole show, who was sacked yesterday over a joke he made about the Holocaust in the late 1990s. Japanese composer Keigo Oyamada, whose music will be performed at the opening ceremony, also resigned this week after admitting bullying disabled classmates. And in March then creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigned after suggesting in a meeting that a popular female entertainer should be lowered into the stadium dressed as a pig as part of a segment he called “Olympig”.

7.44am BST

Naomi Osaka’s opening women’s singles tennis match has been pushed back by a day to Sunday following a request from Tokyo 2020 organisers, the International Tennis Federation confirmed. The four-time grand slam champion and local star, who is returning to tennis after a two-month mental health break, was scheduled to start off Olympic proceedings on Saturday against China’s Zheng Saisai on the main showcourt at the Ariake Tennis Park.

“The request came from Tokyo 2020 organisers to move her match to Sunday,” an ITF spokesperson said. No reason was given for the switch.

7.26am BST

If you aren’t already familiar with the super feature writing of Don McRae, it’s never too late to start. One of his recent big interviews was with Adam Peaty, the British reigning Olympics 100m breaststroke gold medallist, who opens up on his anger with dopers, aims in Tokyo and becoming a father.

7.20am BST

On Friday the Australian Olympic Committee confirmed that cyclist Rohan Dennis will skip tomorrow’s road race to focus on his preferred discipline, the individual time trial, next week. Dennis is a gold medal prospect in the race against the clock. He is a two-time world champion, although over the past year has been eclipsed by Italian rival Filippo Ganna, who won the iconic rainbow jersey in 2020.

Dennis has mixed memories from past Olympics – he claimed silver on the track as a member of the team pursuit squad in London, but a mechanical problem dashed his medal hopes in the time trial in Rio. Dennis’ withdrawal from the road race, although expected, will leave Australia with a small squad of just Richie Porte, Lucas Hamilton and Luke Durbridge in the challenging climb around Mount Fuji.

7.16am BST

Let’s catch up on a bit of news from on the ground in Tokyo. It’s hot there. Like, very hot. The kind of hot that forces organisers to move the marathon and race walking 800km north to Sapporo. Right now it’s 34C in the capital with high humidity. While residents heed warnings not to exercise outdoors, beach volleyball players practising at Shiokaze park complained that the sand was too hot for their feet, prompting staff to hose down the playing surface while athletes waited in the shade.

Just this afternoon, Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva fainted during a qualifying round while coaches and staff huddled under trees for shade.

Olympics Archery-Russian archer passes out under Tokyo’s scorching heat https://t.co/k2nS6aw8eD pic.twitter.com/YVNKml355A

7.06am BST

The politics of protests. Taking a knee has become such a widely practised anti-racism gesture it was not in the least bit surprising to see football players from the women’s United States, Sweden, Chile, Britain and New Zealand teams doing so before their opening matches on Wednesday night. In the Olympic arena, however, protests have been a hotly contested topic for decades.

For some context, the Olympics have always billed themselves as a non-political entity, one which unifies countries instead of dividing them. To wit, the contentious Rule 50 in the Olympic charter states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” That was famously tested at the Mexico City Games in 1968, when American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists while their national anthem played during the 200m medals ceremony.

#Tokyo2020 sports started yesterday! Just some of the highlights…

Japan starting strong in #softball
⚽ Teams were kneeling before the competition
⚽ Vivianne Miedema scored four goals for #NED
‍♂️ First look at the men’s gymnastics contenders in podium training

6.43am BST

This one, too, by Andy Bull, who invites us all into a time machine and transports us back to the very first Games in 1896. The Olympics, he writes, were “born out of uncertainty, delivered by an obdurate and implacable IOC, despite public doubts, political concerns, and escalating costs”. The IOC’s sheer stubbornness has carried the Olympics through 125 years of Olympics across two world wars, massacres, doping scandals and corruption.

“Right the way up to these Tokyo Games. The IOC has tried to compare them to the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, which were held at the tail end of the Spanish flu pandemic. But nothing in living memory has been anything like this. They’re throwing a party in the middle of a global pandemic, have 100,000 guests, 11,000 athletes, and 79,000 officials, support staff and journalists, from more than 200 countries, flying into a city stuck in a state of emergency, in a country where only 22% of the population are fully vaccinated, a country which simply isn’t ready for these Games.”

6.26am BST

For a first taste, this is an excellent curtain-raiser from Sean Ingle, who explores that fine line between opposing an Olympics replete with problems and controversy and being drawn in by the sporting narratives.

6.15am BST

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Olympic Games. We’re here to provide you with 24-hour rolling coverage of all the highs and lows and in-betweens of perhaps the strangest instalment since the very first in Athens in 1896. This is the “Tokyo 2020” of 2021. The Games that couldn’t happen a year ago because of Covid-19, and the Games many believe shouldn’t happen even now as the pandemic continues to cut a swathe through Japan. Signs of a fifth wave are everywhere in the host nation, where infection and death tolls are rising and vaccination rates remain low, and the capital will be under a state of emergency for the entirety of competition. That’s before mentioning the spiralling financial cost.

But, as International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said, “there is no Plan B”. And so, organisers have pressed on, and almost 80,000 athletes, officials, support staff and yes, us the media, have either arrived or will touch down imminently. The local mood is one of derision, to the point that one of the Olympics’ biggest sponsors, Toyota, announced it will not run Tokyo 2020-related adverts. In such an environment controversy already abounds, likewise with athletes taking the knee, super quick super spikes, and all the others which have unfortunately become something of Olympics tradition such as doping, corruption and the status of Russian athletes, some of whom will compete but under a neutral flag.

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