Not In Alphabetical Order? Why The Parade Of Athletes Had A Different Sequence At The Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony
The quadrennial event exemplifies unity among 205 countries.
The Summer Olympic Games, which exemplifies friendship and unity among all the participating nations, is the only event where you can put more than 200 countries to march under one flag, the famous Olympic flag that carries five rings in blue, yellow, black, green, and red.
We can say that this year’s Olympics is considered the most important of the recent decades, because despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a year of postponement, it has proven that camaraderie through sports can overcome the travails of mankind.
To officially kick off the 2020 Summer Olympics, the host city, Tokyo, Japan, held a grandiose four-hour opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. This year’s theme is “Moving Forward: United by Emotion,” which signifies the world’s unity despite the disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was marked by an extravagant fireworks display, musical productions by global performers, and an artistic program that highlights Japan’s rich culture.
The Olympic Laurel
The Olympic Laurel honors outstanding individuals and their achievements in culture, education, development, and peace through sport, and this year’s recipient is Nobel Peace Prize awardee Professor Muhammad Yunus. He is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, economist, and civil society leader, known as the “world’s banker to the poor”.
Muhammad Yunus established the Yunus Sports Hub, which is a global social business network that unleashes local solutions through sport. He has also worked with several projects with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and has dedicated his life’s work to fighting poverty and helping athletes become responsible entrepreneurs.
The Parade of Athletes
More than 11,000 competitors across 205 countries will be participating in the 2020 Olympic Games, and during this year’s Parade of Nations, the countries marched in the Japanese alphabetical order.
As always, Greece was first to march as it is where the ancient Olympics began in 776 BC. In 1896, Greece is also where the first-ever modern games was held.
The Philippines marched after Timor-Leste and Fiji, led by our flag bearers, boxer Eumir Felix Marcial and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, who sported red outfits at the parade.
Being a flag bearer is an honor given to athletes for each delegation, a symbol of national values and Olympic ideals, as well as an inspiration for the generations to come.
A performance by global superstars
This is not the first time we've seen 'Imagine' featured at an #OpeningCeremony of an Olympic Games.
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 23, 2021
Take a trip down memory lane... 🕊?#StrongerTogether #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/MjNKYLG6UM
“Imagine” by John Lennon has been an Olympic anthem for many years now, and this year is no different. With a thought-provoking performance by four-time Grammy award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo, singer-songwriter Keith Urban, four-time Grammy winner Alejandro Sanz, and multi-hyphenate artist John Legend, the world was definitely serenaded by their voices.
Lighting of the cauldron
Before reaching the venue for the opening ceremony, the Olympic flame used to light the cauldron traveled more than a year prior, on March 12, 2020, before the games was postponed. It originated from the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, and was carried via an airplane to Tokyo, Japan.
The specially designed torch resembles a Japanese cherry blossom with five petal-shaped pieces that signify five separate flames.
The ceremony’s torchbearers are baseball stars Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, and Hideki Matsui, who passed it to a doctor and a nurse who served as frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hiroko Oohash and Junko Kitagawa.
The pair then relayed the flame to Paralympic athlete Wakako Tsuchida, who proceeded to pass it on to a group of six young runners.
The final link to the flame was four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, who did the honor of lighting the flower-shaped cauldron that embodies “vitality and hope.”
The lighting of the cauldron signals the official start of the Games, where the flame should stay illuminated until the very end of the event, symbolizing the continuity between the ancient and modern games.
The seats of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium may be empty for now, but our hearts are truly full. Are you ready for this year’s Games?
