but let s go to the bbc s mariko oi who is close to the olympic stadium in the centre of tokyo. we saw those great scenes of the opening ceremony last night but we do know, don t we, that these games are taking place in a pretty tough time with the coronavirus pandemic. ongoing all around the world, and here injapan. what is the feeling from locals around it? what is the feeling from locals around it? ., ., ., , around it? sarah, i am not sure whether you around it? sarah, i am not sure whether you can around it? sarah, i am not sure whether you can see around it? sarah, i am not sure whether you can see behind - around it? sarah, i am not sure| whether you can see behind me. this is outside the stadium where rupert was. it was jampacked last night and you can see a lot of people still queueing up to take a picture with the olympic rings this morning. when people were here last night watching the opening ceremony from outside the olympic stadium, they got very excited when they
the headlines. emperor naruhito ofjapan has formally opened the olympic games at a ceremony in tokyo. it took place in an empty stadium with fewer than a thousand spectators because of the pandemic. the ioc president said preparing for the games had been a difficultjourney with unprecedented challenges. there s confusion and growing criticism over the uk government s plans to allow some key workers in england from transport workers and police to those controlling the power network to take daily covid tests instead of self isolating. business leaders says the scheme needs to be significantly expanded. more than a hundred people have been killed after torrential monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in western india. officials say that dozens of bodies have been recovered from a landslide in the district of ryegad. hundreds of villages and towns are said to be without electricity and drinking water. now on it s time for bbc wales investigates.
for some, these scenes show the ban on olympic spectators is unnecessary, but with covid cases in tokyo climbing rapidly, others will say this demonstrates exactly why the spectator ban is needed. with supporters from around the world not allowed to attend these games, many have had to settle for watching from fanzones in their home countries. in the indian capital, delhi, the indian sports minister and his deputy invited former athletes and children from several of the city s sports clubs to watch the live event and cheer for their country s team. in the french capital, paris, people gathered in the trocadero gardens to watch the opening ceremony. the square has been turned into an open air fanzone with a large screen that will show the competition for the next four weeks, olympics followed by paralympics. across the channel in sunny london, which hosted the games in 2012, a zone near the olympic stadium has been set up complete with deck chairs and entertainment
for spectators, including one former two time olympic medallist fatima whitbread. and in the us capital, washington, in spite of the 13 hour difference with japan, bars opened in the early morning for eager fans to watch the games kick off before some headed off to work. so, what will it be like for athletes to compete without spectators? dr david fletcher is a sports psychologist at loughborough university. it varies very much from athlete to athlete, and with some athletes actually get really quite nervous, as they walk out into the arena. it is like no other cauldron of fierce competition, and the crowd itself can add a dynamic to that. but of course, the japanese athletes, they would ve benefited from the home support. they ll no longer have that. so, i think it s very much on a case by case basis, but i personally think for the majority of our athletes, it won t actually
dad has spent over £3000 on olympic tickets, so you can imagine the mixed emotions they re feeling tonight. yes, we think about, you know, the kids. it s the very first time to hold their olympics injapan, so we were excited. i am very disappointed, masato uno says. if they were not going to have spectators, they should have postponed again until next year, then we could have welcomed people from abroad properly. chanting. those who think the whole show should ve been scrapped long ago were out on the streets again this evening. cheering. but they were vastly outnumbered by the crowds that have turned out to try and get a glimpse of the action. this was shinjuku park at lunchtime as japan s air force display team painted the olympic rings across the sky. the olympics is very. it s a once in a lifetime kind of event, right? so, ijust wanted to have my