Tokyo 2020: opening of "the 32^nd Olympiad of modern times" one year later than planned

11,090 athletes representing 205 National Olympic Committees, plus an Olympic refugee team formed by the IOC, 33 sports and 32 International Federations, 339 events and 42 competition venues: this is how the Tokyo Games "celebrating the 32^nd Olympiad of modern times" will look, with the opening ceremony taking place in Japan this Friday 23/07/2021 (20:00 local time, 13:00 CET).

The Games were scheduled to take place from Friday 24/07 to Sunday 09/08/2020. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the organisers to postpone the Games by 52 weeks (364 days): they have therefore been rescheduled from Friday 23/07 to Sunday 08/08/2021.

Other consequences of the health situation: the Japanese authorities have imposed an almost total closure on all events and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has reinstated a state of emergency to fight against the Delta variant on 12/07/2021.

As a result, less than 1,000 spectators (officials, foreign representatives, journalists) can attend the opening ceremony in the new Olympic Stadium, which cost between €1.2bn and €1.8bn to build.

The fifth and final version of the…