<Anchor> The
Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed for a year due to Corona, will start tomorrow (23rd). Softball and soccer games started before the opening ceremony, but as the first match in the history of the modern Olympics in 125 years without an audience, a quiet scene unfolded.
By Park Chan-beom.
<Reporter> The
Tokyo Olympic Games, which have been delayed by one year, opened the opening ceremony at Fukushima Stadium, which had a gloomy atmosphere, where only some officials and reporters entered the event.
[I'm from Fukushima and I'm a pitcher. I am a junior high school student.] After the
nuclear accident, when the Fukushima junior high school students gave the first pitch and first pitch in prayer for revival, there was no one to applaud other than the players from both teams. It was a quiet atmosphere overall.
While hugging and high-fives were banned for quarantine, players tried to make slight fists after hitting a home run, but there were also players who sometimes held hands or hugged.
[Ueno Yukiko/Japanese Softball Player: It has a meaning as an opening ceremony, and I am proud of the Japanese team that it started well… .] The
atmosphere was no different at the women's soccer field, which was opened without spectators.
Only the voices of the players echoed in the empty stadium.
Tokyo Stadium, where the match between the United States and Sweden was held, can hold up to 50,000 spectators, but as it was played without fans, only a few reporters filled the stands.
At the Tokyo Olympics, 97% of all matches will be played without spectators.
Two matches of women's soccer were played in Miyagi, 400 km from Tokyo, where spectators were allowed to enter, but the atmosphere was still gloomy with a small number of spectators sitting sparsely.