The big start of the Tokyo Olympics will be given with the opening ceremony on Friday, to be followed from 1 p.m. French time.
The show, which will take place behind closed doors due to the health context, will pay tribute in particular to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a year of postponement due to the coronavirus, it is finally the official kickoff of the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8). The opening ceremony will take place this Friday from 1 p.m. French time at the Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital. With all the uncertainties about the holding of the competition and the absence of an audience, the organizers promise a show "simpler and more sober" than the last editions of the Olympics. Few details have been leaked, but the ceremony is expected to shed light on the traditional history of the host country, Japan. The evening will pay tribute to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world and those of the earthquake that occurred in 2011 on the Japanese coast.
Also follow the parade of delegations, each with two flag bearers for the first time in the history of the Games.
For France, judokate Clarisse Agbegnenou and gymnast Samir Aït Saïd will lead the French team around the Olympic stadium.
They will be 80 French athletes to parade on Friday.
Among the questions: who will light the Olympic cauldron, the essential moment of the opening ceremony?
Answer expected at the end of the evening.
Information to remember:
The opening ceremony of the Olympics behind closed doors for the first time in history
Tributes planned for victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and those of the 2011 earthquake in Japan
The French delegation represented by two flag bearers, Clarisse Agbegnenou and Samir Aït Saïd
President Emmanuel Macron present at the Olympic stadium
An opening ceremony "simpler and more sober"
The 2021 version of the opening ceremony should be "simpler and more sober" than previous editions, the organizers warned, in order to stay "in tune with the health situation" and reduce the risk of contamination.
The organizers wanted to make the opening ceremony a moment of "empathy" to express the "gratitude" and "admiration" of the sports world "for all the efforts that have been made" in the fight against the pandemic , which has killed four million people since the end of 2019.
READ ALSO
- Opening ceremony, in camera, health context ... In Tokyo, the Olympics like no other
Tribute will also be paid to the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and left nearly 18,500 dead.
Despite this serious tone, the ceremony should still be a festive moment, with the traditional musical tables referring to the history and culture of the host country and to the universal values of sport.
Clarisse Agbegnenou and Samir Aït Saïd flag bearer
The French delegation will be represented by two flag bearers, the judokate Clarisse Agbegnenou and the gymnast Samir Aït Saïd. Silver medalist in 2016, Clarisse Agbegnenou enjoys living this experience as she confided to the microphone of Europe 1. "I am in joy and good humor. For me, it is such a pleasure that it there is no stress. There is only joy and good energy. "
For gymnast Samir Aït Saïd, injured during the last Games in 2016, this nomination as flag bearer is also an honor.
"I had a hard time believing it. You never know, she could have been wrong and could have thought that it was Flo [Florent Manaudou] or Renaud Lavillenie on the phone. But no, it was me", a he told on Europe 1. The two French representatives will parade alongside 80 French athletes.
Emmanuel Macron present at the Olympic stadium
While the opening ceremony will take place behind closed doors due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Japan, a thousand people (officials, foreign dignitaries, journalists) are expected to attend the opening ceremony in the new Friday. Tokyo Olympic Stadium, designed to accommodate 68,000 spectators.
Among them, Emmanuel Macron made the trip as president of the host country of the next Olympic Games, scheduled for Paris in 2024. His entourage has been reduced to a minimum with the presence of a single minister at his side, Jean-Michel Blanquer , the Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports.
Repeated scandals a few days before the ceremony
The preparation for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics has been punctuated by several scandals that have arisen in recent days. The artistic director of the show Kentaro Kobayashi was dismissed from the ceremony last Friday due to a bad Holocaust joke dating back more than 20 years. This dismissal came shortly after the resignation of Keigo Oyamada, composer of one of the musical themes of the opening ceremony, caught up by old interviews in the 1990s in which he explained that he persecuted classmates with disabilities in his youth. . Departures which did not prevent the organizers from continuing "the preparations for the opening ceremony as initially scheduled", they said.