Tokyo Olympics 2021 opening ceremony: order and flag bearers by country
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The Tokyo Olympics will officially start Friday, July 23 with the traditional Opening Ceremony a year after having been canceled due to the global pandemic. While the International Olympic Committee establishes a very strict format for these sports events, the empty stadium, as well as the implementation of two representatives per nation will differentiate this year’s proceedings in Tokyo.
Follow the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics live
Opening Ceremony: When and Where?
The Opening Ceremony, which is meant to last four hours, will be held at 7:00 a.m. ET. Friday, July 23. The event will take place at the new National Stadium in Tokyo, which opened last year and will also be hosting several sports such as soccer and the track and field competition. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast.
How to watch the Opening Ceremonies on television?
NBC will be airing the event live beginning on 6:55 a.m ET, July 23. However, for those who missed the ceremonies, NBC will also tape delay at 7:30 p.m. ET on the same day.
A journey through time
Each Opening Ceremony has a theme selected by the host country. During the “Parade of Nations”, the host country’s goal is to represent their cultural identity and to show the world their place in society.
Ceremonies have been around since The greek Ancient Games, from ca. 776 BC to ca. 393 AD. But it wasn’t until approximately the 77th Olympiad that they established a standard 18-event program and an Inauguration festival to celebrate the start of the Games. This festival was followed by a ceremony where athletes took an oath to sportsmanship, to end with an artistic competition of trumpeters and heralds.
However, it wasn’t until the Stockholm Games in 1912 when the artistic version of the opening ceremonies that we are most familiar with, was first implemented by Coubertin.
The International Olympic Committee says tradition dictates that the parade should be in alphabetical order, according to the host country’s language, with the exception of Greece, which since 1928 opens the parade due to historical reasons, and the host country which will bring up the gear.
Since the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, opening ceremonies continue to increase in many ways such as scale, complexity and expense. This growth is reflected in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics where for the first time we will see an opening ceremony staged across two stadiums.
Another very important change is the fact that starting with Tokyo 2021 we will see for the first time two flag bearers representing both genders. This decision was made by the Olympic Committee to fight against gender inequalities. The IOC has always worked towards gender equality. In 1900, 22 women were seen for the first time participating in the Olympics, 118 years after, the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires became the first fully gender-balanced Olympic event in history.
Opening Ceremony: Safety Restrictions
A year after having been canceled because of the global pandemic, Olympic Games return, but still with strict restrictions due to increasing cases in the host country. No fans will be allowed at the Olympic events nor at the opening and closing ceremonies this year, an aspect that will drastically change the atmosphere of all the events not only for competitors but also for those who watch it from their homes.
Sponsors first officials which are usually seen in the Olympic’s opening will not be attending this year’s ceremony either. The companies cited the no-attendance policy at most of the Games’ venues and the need to prevent their executives from contracting the novel coronavirus. Even Japan’s three major business groups have also decided to skip the Opening Ceremony.
Officials revealed that just 950 people were expected to attend. Among whom will be officials, journalists, performers and athletes taking part of the Olympic Games.
Even if athletes are not obligated to take the vaccine, IOC has tried to persuade all countries to get their athletes vaccinated in solidarity with the host country. Around 80% of attendants have already been vaccinated.
Who are the U.S. flag bearers?
The US team will be the third-to-last parade to enter the stadium, two spots before Japan. This positioning reminds spectators that US will be hosting 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. France, which will be host nation for the Olympic Games in 2024 will enter behind the US, a spot ahead of Japan.
American flag bearers will be women representative Sue Bird (women’s basketball) and Men’s representative Eddy Alvarez (baseball, though he won a silver medal in short-track speedskating at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics).
Bird and Alvarez will be wearing Ralph Lauren outfits which include a self-regulating cooling system designed by the brand. Summer temperatures in Tokyo often reach 90 °F.
Who are TPE, ISV, KOS and more? Tokyo 2020 Olympics country codes explained
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The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are finally underway after a year-long delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. No spectators are permitted in any of the venues used in the event after Japan declared a state of emergency in the country due to rising cases of the virus.
However, there is still opportunity for fans to cheer on their nation at home with over 11,300 athletes looking to win a medal for their team this summer.
There are representatives for all 206 countries in the Olympic village in Tokyo ranging from Belgium to Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) and Sweden to Uzbekistan.
Most viewers are aware of who GBR, AUS, USA, GER and NED are associated with, but do you know who TPE, ISV and KOS are used for?
Fear not, without further ado, Birmingham Live breaks down each country’s Olympic code at this summer’s Games and to make it even better, it’s in alphabetical order.
Afghanistan - AFG
Albania - ALB
Algeria - ALG
American Samoa - ASA
Andorra - AND
Angola - ANG
Antigua and Barbuda - ANT
Argentina - ARG
Armenia - ARM
Aruba - ARU
Australia - AUS
Austria - AUT
Azerbaijan - AZE
Bahamas - BAH
Bahrain - BRN
Bangladesh - BAN
Barbados - BAR
Belarus - BLR
Belgium - BEL
Belize - BIZ
Bermuda - BER
Benin - BEN
Bhutan - BHU
Bolivia - BOL
Bosnia and Herzegovina - BIH
Botswana - BOT
Brazil - BRA
The British Virgin Islands - IVB
Brunei - BRU
Bulgaria - BUL
Burkina Faso - BUR
Burundi - BDI
Cambodia - CAM
Cameroon - CMR
Canada - CAN
Cape Verde - CPV
Cayman Islands - CAY
Central African Republic - CAF
Chad - CHA
Chile - CHI
China - CHN
Colombia - COL
Comoros - COM
Congo, Republic of the - CGO
Congo, Democratic Republic of the - COD
The Cook Islands - COK
Costa Rica - CRC
Cote d’Ivoire - CIV
Croatia - CRO
Cuba - CUB
Cyprus - CYP
Czech Republic - CZE
Denmark - DEN
Djibouti - DJI
Dominica - DMA
The Dominican Republic - DOM
East Timor (Timor-Leste) - TLS
Ecuador - ECU
Egypt - EGY
El Salvador - ESA
Equatorial Guinea - GEQ
Eritrea - ERI
Estonia - EST
Ethiopia - ETH
Fiji - FIJ
Finland - FIN
France - FRA
Gabon - GAB
The Gambia - GAM
Georgia - GEO
Germany - GER
Ghana - GHA
Greece - GRE
Grenada - GRN
Guam - GUM
Guatemala - GUA
Guinea - GUI
Guinea-Bissau - GBS
Guyana - GUY
Haiti - HAI
Honduras - HON
Hong Kong - HKG
Hungary - HUN
Iceland - ISL
India - IND
Indonesia - INA
Iran - IRI
Iraq - IRQ
Ireland - IRL
Israel - ISR
Italy - ITA
Jamaica - JAM
Japan - JPN
Jordan - JOR
Kazakhstan - KAZ
Kenya - KEN
Kiribati - KIR
Korea, North (PDR of Korea) - PRK
Korea, South - KOR
Kosovo - KOS
Kuwait - KUW
Kyrgyzstan - KGZ
Laos - LAO
Latvia - LAT
Lebanon - LIB
Lesotho - LES
Liberia - LBR
Libya - LBA
Liechtenstein - LIE
Lithuania - LTU
Luxembourg - LUX
Macedonia - MKD
Madagascar - MAD
Malawi - MAW
Malaysia - MAS
The Maldives - MDV
Mali - MLI
Malta - MLT
Marshall Islands - MHL
Mauritania - MTN
Mauritius - MRI
Mexico - MEX
Micronesia - FSM
Moldova - MDA
Monaco - MON
Mongolia - MGL
Montenegro - MNE
Morocco - MAR
Mozambique - MOZ
Myanmar (Burma) - MYA
Namibia - NAM
Nauru - NRU
Nepal - NEP
Netherlands - NED
New Zealand - NZL
Nicaragua - NCA
Niger - NIG
Nigeria - NGR
Norway - NOR
Oman - OMA
Pakistan - PAK
Palau - PLW
Palestine - PLE
Panama - PAN
Papua New Guinea - PNG
Paraguay - PAR
Peru - PER
Philippines - PHI
Poland - POL
Portugal - POR
Puerto Rico - PUR
Qatar - QAT
Romania - ROU
Russian Federation - RUS
Rwanda - RWA
Saint Kitts and Nevis - SKN
Saint Lucia - LCA
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - VIN
Samoa - SAM
San Marino - SMR
Sao Tome and Principe - STP
Saudi Arabia - KSA
Senegal - SEN
Serbia - SRB
Seychelles - SEY
Sierra Leone - SLE
Singapore - SIN
Slovakia - SVK
Slovenia - SLO
Solomon Islands - SOL
Somalia - SOM
South Africa - RSA
Spain - ESP
Sri Lanka - SRI
Sudan - SUD
Suriname - SUR
Swaziland - SWZ
Sweden - SWE
Switzerland - SUI
Syria - SYR
Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) - TPE
Tajikistan - TJK
Tanzania - TAN
Thailand - THA
Togo - TOG
Tonga - TGA
Trinidad and Tobago - TRI
Tunisia - TUN
Turkey - TUR
Turkmenistan - TKM
Tuvalu - TUV
Uganda - UGA
Ukraine - UKR
United Arab Emirates - UAE
United Kingdom (Great Britain) - GBR
United States - USA
Uruguay - URU
Uzbekistan - UZB
Vanuatu - VAN
Venezuela - VEN
Vietnam - VIE
Virgin Islands - ISV
Yemen - YEM
Zambia - ZAM
Zimbabwe - ZIM
Belarus leader vows to keep up raids of NGOs, media outlets
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FILE - In this Friday, July 9, 2021 file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addresses members of Belarus National Olympic team ahead of the… FILE - In this Friday, July 9, 2021 file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addresses members of Belarus National Olympic team ahead of the Summer Olympics Games in Tokyo, Minsk, Belarus. Belarus’ authorities on Monday July 19, 2021, raided offices of an independent newspaper and detained three of its journalists as part of a continuing crackdown on media outlets and civil society activists. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The longtime leader of Belarus vowed Thursday to continue a crackdown on civil society activists he regards as “bandits and foreign agents.”
President Alexander Lukashenko chided officials in his administration for allowing the operation of non-governmental organizations that he called “harmful to the state.”
“A mopping-up operation is going on,” Lukashenko said. “Do you think it’s easy? There are thousands of our people working for them, and their brains are distorted and brainwashed with foreign money.”
Belarusian authorities have ramped up raids and arrests of independent journalists and civil society activists in recent weeks.
The Viasna human rights center said the country’s law enforcement agencies have conducted more than 200 searches of offices and apartments of journalists and activists so far this month. The center said authorities detained 11 activists Thursday.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists said authorities raided the apartment of freelance journalist Tanya Smotkina in the town of Hlybokaye for the second time this month and detained her for interrogation on charges of “inciting strife.”
A journalist who worked for the U.S.-funded broadcast RFE/RL and was detained last week, Ina Studzinskaya, declared a hunger strike Thursday to protest authorities refusing to give her access to her lawyer, the journalists’ association said.
The deputy head of the association, Boris Goretsky, said Studzinskaya was kept in cell without a mattress where the lights were kept on around the clock.
Overall, 31 Belarusian journalists are in custody awaiting trial or serving sentences.
The Justice Ministry asked the country’s highest court on Wednesday to shut the Belarusian Association of Journalists over alleged flaws in office lease documents. BAJ said it couldn’t provide the necessary documents to respond to the complaints because its headquarters have been sealed since a police raid last week.
On Thursday, the ministry also appealed to the court to close the Belarusian PEN Center, an association of writers led by Svetlana Alexievich, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature.
Alexievich, a member of the opposition Coordination Council in Belarus, left the country last year after being summoned for questioning by the state investigative agency.
Earlier this week, authorities froze the PEN Center’s bank accounts.
“Shutting the PEN Center reflects the overall catastrophic situation in the country with authorities trying to immediately silence everyone,” the organization’s deputy head, Taciana Niadbaj, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Minsk. “But even in this atmosphere of fear and repressions we will continue the fight and appeal the authorities’ move.”
Lukashenko, who faced months of protests triggered by his election to a sixth term in an August 2020 vote that the opposition and the West saw as rigged, responded to demonstrations with a sweeping crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s main election challenger, was forced to leave Belarus under official pressure after the election. She visited the United States this week for meetings with Biden administration officials and U.S. lawmakers to rally support for the Belarusian opposition.
“When you look me in the eye, you see the eyes of every political prisoner, every activist, every Belarusian who wants to live in a free country,” Tsikhanouskaya told members of U.S. Congress.