After a year of COVID-19 pandemic-related delays, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games opened Tuesday evening officially.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito officially declared the event open in front of approximately 3,400 delegates and 3,200 invited personnel.

The Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT) led the parade of nations as Syrian refugee Alia Issa and Afghani athlete Abbas Karimi presented the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) flag together for the RPT.

Despite not competing at the Tokyo Games, the Afghanistan flag still appeared along with the other 161 delegations as a sign of solidarity.

China, participating in the Summer Paralympics for the 10th consecutive time, sent a delegation of 251 athletes, 132 female, and 119 male. Its oldest athlete is 56 years old and the youngest 16 years old.

They will compete in 20 of the 22 sports.

Leading 150 people participating in the opening ceremony, Paralympians Zhou Jiamin and Wang Hao served as the flag bearers as the Chinese delegation marched on the centre stage in the 98th.

With badminton and taekwondo introduced for the first time in Paralympic history, the organisers confirmed a record number of 4,403 athletes from 162 delegations to take part in 22 sports.

Due to the surging COVID-19 infections in the country, Tokyo and three other prefectures which will host the upcoming competitions are now under a state of emergency, running until September 12.

Tokyo is the only city hosting the Paralympic Summer Games for the second time in history.

“Tokyo has an opportunity to build a society where everyone is free to live as who they are in mutual support and understanding, free from discrimination or barriers of any kind,” said Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (TOCOG).

NAN)