Tokyo Olympics will see 11,000 athletes participating

New Delhi/Tokyo: The Tokyo Olympics 2021, set to begin on July 23, will see a grand opening ceremony held at the newly-built National Stadium in the Japanese capital while the closing ceremony will be held on August 8 at the same venue.

The Games, which are being held after a year-long delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will see the participation of around 11,000 athletes from 206 countries in 33 sporting events.

This is the first time that an Olympic Games has been postponed and rescheduled.

The Games will see the introduction of some new competitions, including 3×3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and Madison cycling, as well as more mixed events.

Sports like karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding also make their debut at the Tokyo Olympics. Baseball and softball make their return to the Games for the first time since 2008.

The mascot of Tokyo Olympics 2020 is named as Miratoiwa, a Japanese doll. ‘Mirai’ means future and ‘towa’ means eternity.

The doll, equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI), is in shades of indigo blue. It has large ears and eyes and embodies the spirit of the old Japanese proverb “to learn old things well and to acquire new knowledge from them”.

The mascot has been designed by Japanese artist Ryo Taniguchi.

Sony Sports Network has won the rights for live broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics in India.

National broadcaster Doordarshan will telecast live the Tokyo Olympics.

The opening ceremony will start from 8 p.m. local time or 4:30 p.m. Indian Standard Time. – IANS