Tokyo Paralympics Kick Off amid Virus Emergency

Tokyo, Aug. 24 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo Paralympic Games kicked off with a large-scale but subdued ceremony on Tuesday night, overshadowed by surging novel coronavirus infections that have overwhelmed hospitals in Japan. The opening ceremony was held at the Japan National Stadium in central Tokyo from 8 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT), with no general spectators in the stands as a precaution against the coronavirus. "I declare open the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games," Japanese Emperor Naruhito, who serves as honorary patron of the Tokyo Games, said in the ceremony. During the Tokyo Paralympics, a coronavirus state of emergency will remain in place in Tokyo and three other prefectures hosting Paralympic venues due to an unabated increase in infection cases. Like the Tokyo Olympics, which ended on Aug. 8, the Tokyo Paralympics, originally scheduled for 2020, were postponed for the first time in the history of the major sporting event for athletes with disabilities, due to the pandemic. There is still no end in sight for the coronavirus crisis in Japan. Across the country, 21,569 new cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed on Tuesday, with the number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms hitting a record high of 1,935. This is the second Paralympics held in Tokyo, after the first in 1964. Tokyo became the first city to host the Summer Paralympics twice. In the Tokyo Paralympics, athletes will compete in 539 events in 22 sports between Wednesday and Sept. 5, when the closing ceremony will be held. A total of 4,403 athletes from 161 countries and regions, including independent competitors from Russia and refugee team members, are set to take part in the Tokyo Games, a record high for a Paralympics. They include a record 1,853 female athletes. With some countries unable to participate in the Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus and other reasons, the number of Paralympic delegations is the second highest ever, after the 164 that attended the 2012 London Paralympics. The Japanese delegation has 254 athletes, a record high for the country, which aims to win 20 gold medals, after failing to capture any gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. The opening ceremony was held under the concept of "We Have Wings," which included the message that even head winds should be used as strength in lives, according to the Tokyo Paralympics organizing committee. In line with the concept, a performance related to an airport and a plane was given by people with disabilities selected from among applicants. At the opening ceremony, the march of the Japanese delegation was led by male table tennis player Koyo Iwabuchi and female triathlete Mami Tani. Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Paralympics organizing committee, and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons delivered speeches, followed by Emperor Naruhito's declaration of the start of the Games. Although torch relay events on public roads were canceled for most routes, flames ignited in Japan's 47 prefectures and Britain's Stoke Mandeville, the spiritual birthplace of the Paralympic movement, were combined to create the Tokyo Paralympic flame, with which female Japanese wheelchair tennis player Yui Kamiji and two others lit the cauldron at the stadium in the opening ceremony. Organizers, including the Japanese government and the Tokyo Paralympics organizing committee, decided not to allow any live spectators at the venues in Tokyo, the neighboring prefectures of Chiba and Saitama, and Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, in order to prevent coronavirus infections. Still, a Paralympic-viewing program for school students will be allowed if local governments want to go ahead with it. END