Fan free Olympics begin

Olympics fans around the world gathered in public spaces and private homes to mark the start of Tokyo 2020 after exactly 12 months' delay. The Games were postponed due to the pandemic. However, as Covid rates are rising once more, public gatherings have been banned in Japan.

The spectacle still attracted a huge amount of interest from keen Olympics fans. Kyoko Ishikawa organised a watch party from her home in Japan with her American husband, celebrating with friends and family around the world appearing on different screens. Mindful of including everyone, she put up flags and photographs from every country competing in the event.

Kyoko Ishikawa: "The top athletes and everything top things, from two, over 200 countries get, come here - wanted just come to just one city and get together, and produce the, the highest energy and power. So that's the Olympic Games."

Meanwhile, outside a London shopping centre, Olympic aficionados gathered to watch the opening ceremony of the Games. The Olympic stadium, instead of being full of excited spectators and teams of athletes, hosted just 1,000 VIPs and a handful of sportsmen and women representing each country.

For Olympics enthusiast Anthony, it's actually the unity - the thing at the heart of every Olympic Games - that matters most.

Antony Lowbridge-Ellis: "Sometimes it's a bit sort of naïve but I love the idea of the world coming together, just for four - every four years, just for, for this. It makes me feel quite, quite happy. And I think that with everything that's gone on the last couple of years, it's probably needed more than ever. So, I'm really looking forward to these Games for that reason."

One spectator, Takoko, had envisaged returning home from her studies especially for the event, but like many others, she was forced to rethink after the pandemic struck once more. She nevertheless wanted to participate.

Takako: "I'm Japanese and because of the Covid, I couldn't go back to Japan. That's why I went to see the Olympic Games on a big screen in the UK."

The athletes themselves will undoubtedly miss the live roars of encouragement from their fans. However, thousands of distanced spectators around the world will be glued to their screens, cheering on their home team in earnest.

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