Sport stretched out over Tokyo on Saturday and gold medals rained down as the Olympic Games burst into life, finally casting aside some of the shadow of COVID-19 and controversy that has plagued the global showpiece.
China made an instant statement of intent when Yang Qian grabbed the Games’ first gold, and Japanese judoka Naohisa Takato lifted home hearts with gold on the mat a day after the nation’s global superstar, tennis player Naomi Osaka, had lit the cauldron to officially open the pandemic-delayed Olympics.
Iran were also cheering early after Javad Foroughi won the men’s 10m air pistol event, and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz won the men’s cycling road race as unexpected nationsfeatured at the top of the medals table.
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But fans, banned from all venues under COVID-19 protocols, were served an early reminder of the pandemic’s potential impact as two U.S. archers said they were competing unvaccinated through personal choice, and organisers said another athlete had tested positive for the virus.
The choice of Osaka to light the cauldron on Friday had capped an opening ceremony shorn of glitz and staged in an eerily silent stadium.
But while the ceremony had been like none before, day one of sport offered a much more familiar feel despite the absence of spectators, as the world’s elite athletes ran, rode, fought and swam as a hankered-for business-as-usual vibe built.
The sight of an athlete, eyes glistening with joy, was always going to be a welcome one for organisers, and 21-year-old Chinese shooter Yang provided it first, holding her nerve in the women’s 10-metre rifle competition to overhaul Anastasiia Galashina.
REUTERS
