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Tongan Pita Taufatofua made a return: Taufatofua first caught the attention of Olympic spectators in Rio five years ago when he appeared shirtless wearing traditional Tongan dress and covered in oil. Team USA, for example, had more than 200 athletes walking through the stadium out of a team that is over 600 strong, while 63 of Australia's 472 athletes took part. With athletes expected to arrive in the Olympic Village five days prior to their competition and depart a maximum of two days after, fewer took part in the parade of nations compared to previous Olympics. US first lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron attended the event.
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The attendance: According to Tokyo 2020 organizers, 950 people attended the opening ceremony - only a handful in a venue with a capacity of 68,000 - as the 206 delegations competing were officially welcomed to the Games.
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In case you missed it, here's what happened at the Opening Ceremony: The surreal circumstances of the Games' curtain raiser - unlike any other previous opening ceremony - provided a glimpse of what is to come over the next 16 days with the coronavirus pandemic set to loom large over proceedings. The ceremony drew to a close around midnight in Japan as a spectacular firework display illuminated the Tokyo night sky. With no fans in attendance and a reduced number of athletes joining the parade, the Tokyo Olympics' Opening Ceremony officially kicked off the Summer Games on Friday as tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the cauldron. Fireworks go off after Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron.