{"id":601050,"date":"2021-07-23T11:37:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T15:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=601050"},"modified":"2021-07-23T11:37:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T15:37:07","slug":"tokyos-billion-dollar-olympic-stadium-nearly-empty-for-muted-opening-ceremonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tokyos-billion-dollar-olympic-stadium-nearly-empty-for-muted-opening-ceremonies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo\u2019s Billion-Dollar Olympic Stadium Nearly Empty For \u2018Muted\u2019 Opening Ceremonies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftokyos-billion-dollar-olympic-stadium-nearly-empty-for-muted-opening-ceremonies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=601050&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1234131140.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Tokyo\u2019s $1.5 billion Olympic stadium, designed to hold more than 70,000 people, was nearly empty for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opening ceremonies, with just 950 \u201cVIP\u201d guests in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s opening ceremonies were \u201cmuted\u201d \u2014 a theme that looms over the Tokyo Games, which will take place largely without spectators or fans because of the city\u2019s sudden spike in COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBelated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics finally opened Friday night with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games,\u201d the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTokyo\u2019s skyline goes as far as the eye can see, but from the air, the $1.5 billion stadium built for the 2020 Olympics stands out in the Japanese capital\u2019s urban sprawl,\u201d CNN added. \u2018It can hold nearly 70,000 people, but for Friday night\u2019s opening ceremony, most seats will be empty. Organizers said only about 950 VIPs will attend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 950 attendees were spaced well apart. First Lady Jill Biden, who is attending the Olympic Games in her husband, President Joe Biden\u2019s stead, even though the envoy petition typically goes to an administration official, was seated in a box by herself. The First Lady was pictured wearing a black mask with her black polka-dot dress despite being outdoors and far away from any other ceremony attendee, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KateBennett_DC\/status\/1418564786510467072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1418564786510467072%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fadministration%2F564490-jill-biden-attends-tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony\">photos published to social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"4.6769230769231\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FLOTUS<\/a> stands to cheer as <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TeamUSA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TeamUSA<\/a> enters the arena. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XM0xiSzqxb\">pic.twitter.com\/XM0xiSzqxb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KateBennett_DC\/status\/1418564786510467072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 23, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Tokyo Olympic officials have been particularly concerned with COVID-19, and not just because the pandemic forced organizers to postpone the games a full year. The city is reeling from the largest spike in COVID-19 cases seen since 2020, and its vaccination rate is lagging behind other developed countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[H]obbled by a slow rollout, a severe shortage of doctors and nurses, and by the fact that it must import all its vaccines,\u201d Japan has lagged in getting the vaccine out to its citizens,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/olympics\/ahead-tokyo-olympics-japan-vaccination-rate-far-mark-n1272523\">per NBC News<\/a>. The number of vaccinated individuals has grown considerably just in the last several days, according to the WHO, from around 15 million at the end of June to 66 million by the opening ceremony, but that\u2019s still just 30% of the population.<\/p>\n<p>Tokyo Organizers have laid down strict regulations for Olympic athletes \u2014 regulations that barred everything from breastfeeding infants to service animals from joining athletes in the Olympic Village \u2014 but its not clear all of organizers\u2019 regulations are being followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAthletes marched into the stadium in their usual parade, waving enthusiastically to thousands of empty seats and to a world hungry to watch them compete but surely wondering what to make of it all,\u201d the AP added. \u201cSome athletes marched socially distanced, while others clustered in ways utterly contrary to organizers\u2019 hopes. The Czech Republic entered with other countries even though its delegation has had several positive COVID tests since arriving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The opening ceremonies were also marked by protests which were audible inside the stadium, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/07\/23\/protesters-chant-go-to-hell-olympics-just-before-opening-ceremony\/\">the New York Post noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHundreds of protesters marched through Tokyo on Friday toward the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games \u2014 chanting for organizers to \u2018go to hell\u2019 for holding the event despite the pandemic,\u201d according to the Post, which referenced videos posted to social media. \u201cJust an hour before the Games started, a mass of people had gathered in Harajuku, the main shopping district in Tokyo, with police shutting down a major roadway as the marchers set off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first Olympic events are already underway. The first medals are set to be awarded Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tokyo\u2019s $1.5 billion Olympic stadium, designed to hold more than 70,000 people, was nearly empty for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opening ceremonies, with just 950 \u201cVIP\u201d guests in attendance.Friday\u2019s &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-601050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}