Ceremony marks 1 year of Tokyo Olympics

Jiji Press

11:22 JST, July 24, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — A ceremony was held on Saturday to mark one year since the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics was held.

“The Tokyo Games left many legacies. Tokyo is now at a new starting point,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at the ceremony, held at the National Stadium, which was used as the main venue of the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games last year.

The ceremony was participated by athletes, torchbearers volunteers and others, and events such as a parade were performed.

Before the start of the ceremony, participants offered silent prayers for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot to death earlier this month. Abe worked hard to realize Tokyo’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In the parade, a total of about 200 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff officials marched to the theme song of popular video game Dragon Quest, which was also used for the opening ceremony for the Olympics on July 23, 2021.

A relay held at Saturday’s ceremony was attended by spectators and athletes including boxer Sena Irie, who won gold in the women’s featherweight event in the Olympic Games.

Seiko Hashimoto, who served as president of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee, said, “The Tokyo Games demonstrated that Japan has the power to overcome difficulties and move forward,” stressing the significance of the Games being held in defiance of the novel coronavirus crisis.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, originally scheduled for 2020, were postponed by one year due to the pandemic.