Let the Games begin! 2020 Tokyo Paralympics FINALLY launch after a one-year pandemic delay with Team USA parading at opening ceremony and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff cheering from near-empty stands
Led by flag bearers Melissa Stockwell and Chuck Aoki, Team USA took part in the Paralympic Games opening ceremony on Tuesday in the same empty National Stadium - and during the same pandemic - as the recently completed Tokyo Olympics.
Japanese Emperor Naruhito got it all started again, this time under the theme 'We Have Wings.' Among the few on hand were Douglas Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons and International Olympic President Thomas Bach.
'What a thrill to attend the Opening Ceremony of the #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics!' Emhoff tweeted Tuesday after meeting earlier in the day with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. 'These Games are the culmination of years of dedication, discipline, and sacrifice. To all the athletes and coaches, we are so proud of you.'
Emhoff also addressed Team USA via satellite prior to Tuesday's opening ceremony.
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Led by flag bearers Melissa Stockwell (holding the flag) and Chuck Aoki (alongside Stockwell), Team USA took part in the Paralympic Games opening ceremony on Tuesday in the same empty National Stadium - and during the same pandemic - as the recently completed Tokyo Olympics
THAT'S U.S. #TeamUSA x #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/R5SHrlU6Wh
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 24, 2021
THAT'S U.S. #TeamUSA x #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/R5SHrlU6Wh
Fireworks are set off during the Opening Ceremony over the Olympic Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Douglas Emhoff, left, husband of United States Vice President Kamala Harris, watches as Japan's Emperor Naruhito declares the 2020 Paralympics open at the National Stadium in Tokyo
Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff addresses Team USA head of the Opening Ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics
After being picked in a vote by Team USA's 115 paralympians, Stockwell, a 41-year-old paratriathlete, and Aoki, a 30-year-old wheelchair rugby player, became the first duo to represent the country as flag bearers at a Paralympic opening ceremony. The honor was previously reserved for only one athlete, but the International Paralympic Committee now requires one male and one female member of each team to serve as flag bearers.
'Being selected flag bearer is such a stunning honor that I never expected,' said Aoki, who won silver in London in 2012 and bronze at the 2016 Rio Game. 'We have an incredible group of athletes in our delegation and to be selected by my peers is amazing.'
'The Paralympics are a showcase of what we can overcome with the power of the human body and the human spirit, and I'm just so proud of where my story has brought me,' Stockwell, a bronze medalist in 2016, said in her statement. 'I'm proud to have the opportunity to represent Team USA at the Paralympics, and I'm ready for Team USA to showcase our athletic ability to the world.'
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Athletes from Japan Miki Matheson, Mineho Ozaki, Taiyou Imai, Erina Yuguchi, Kaori Icho, and Tskumi Asatani carry the national flag of Japan into the Olympic Stadium at the start of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony
Athletes from Team USA take part in the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony on Tuesday in Tokyo
Melissa Stockwell and Charles Aoki were chosen as the first co-flag bearers for Team USA in Paralympic history
Entertainers perform during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium
Japanese Emperor Naruhito got it all started again, this time under the theme 'We Have Wings.' Among the few on hand were Douglas Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons and International Olympic President Thomas Bach. 'What a thrill to attend the Opening Ceremony of the #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics!' read a tweet from Emhoff . 'These Games are the culmination of years of dedication, discipline, and sacrifice. To all the athletes and coaches, we are so proud of you'
Tokyo and Paralympic organizers are under pressure from soaring new infections in the capital. Only about 40% of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated. Tokyo is under a state of emergency until September 12
It was a circus-like opening with acrobats, clowns, vibrant music and fireworks atop the stadium to mark the the start of the long parade of athletes.
The opening ceremony featured the national flags of the 162 delegations represented, which included the refugee team. In addition, the flag of Afghanistan was carried by a volunteer despite the delegation not being on hand in Tokyo.
Comparisons to the Olympics stop with the colorful jamboree, save for the logistical and medical barriers during the pandemic, and the hollowing out of almost everything else.
Tokyo and Paralympic organizers are under pressure from soaring new infections in the capital. About 40 percent of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated. But daily new cases in Tokyo have increased four to five times since the Olympics opened on July 23. Tokyo is under a state of emergency until September 12, with the Paralympics ending September 5.
Organizers on Tuesday also announced the first positive test for an athlete living in the Paralympic Village. They gave no name or details and said the athlete had been isolated.
The Paralympics are being held without fans, although organizers are planning to let some school children attend, going against the advice of much of the medical community.
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the 2020 Paralympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo
It was a circus-like opening with acrobats, clowns, vibrant music and fireworks atop the stadium to mark the the start of the long parade of athletes
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Fireworks light up the sky above the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Parsons and Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee, say the Paralympics can be held safely. Both have tried to distance the Paralympics and Olympics from Tokyo's rising infection rate.
'For the moment we don't see the correlation between having the Paralympics in Tokyo with the rising number of cases in Tokyo and Japan,' Parsons told The Associated Press.
Some medical experts say even if there is no direct link, the presence of the Olympics and Paralympics promoted a false sense of security and prompted people to let down their guard, which may have helped spread the virus.
The Paralympics are about athletic prowess. The origin of the word is from 'parallel' - an event running alongside the Olympics.
Markus Rehm - known as the 'Blade Jumper' - lost his right leg below the knee when he was 14 in a wakeboarding accident, but earlier this year he jumped 8.62 meters, a distance that would have won the last seven Olympics, including the Tokyo Games. Tokyo's winning long jump was 8.41 meters.
'The stigma attached to disability changes when you watch the sport,' said Craig Spence, a spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee. 'These games will change your attitude toward disability.
'If you look around Japan, it's very rare you see persons with disabilities on the street,' Spence added. 'We've got to go from protecting people to empowering people and creating opportunities for people to flourish in society.'
Archer Matt Stutzman was born with no arms, just stumps at the shoulders. He holds a world record - for any archer, disabled or otherwise - for the longest, most accurate shot, hitting a target at 310 yards, or about 283 meters.
Flag bearers Melissa Stockwell and Charles Aoki of Team USA lead their delegation in the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meets with US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff in Tokyo prior to the ceremony
Actors perform during the opening ceremony for the 2020 Paralympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo
Wheelchair fencer Bebe Vivo contracted meningitis as a child and to save her life, doctors amputated both her forearms and both her legs at the knees.
'So many people told me that it was impossible to do fencing without any hands,' Vivo said in a recent interview. 'So it was so important to me to demonstrate and show people that it doesn't matter if you don't have hands, or you don't have legs or whatever. If you have a dream and you really want to achieve it, just go and take it.'
Stutzman and Vivo are both set to compete in Tokyo and have already won medals in previous games, superstars who told their stories last year in the Netflix documentary about the Paralympics called 'Rising Phoenix.'
The rest of the 4,403 Paralympic athletes in Tokyo - a record number for any Paralympics - will be telling their stories until the closing ceremony.
'I feel like I'm meeting movie stars,' said 14-year-old Ugandan swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe, who is competing for the first time.
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She acknowledged being a self-conscious adolescent, even more so because of a congenital impairment that left her with no lower right arm, an her left hand slightly misshapen.
'Since it's the Paralympics and everybody else is disabled, I feel really comfortable with myself,' she said. 'In Uganda, there are very few people who have disabilities who want to come out and be themselves.'
Paralympic organizers played a part last week in launching 'WeThe15,' a human-rights campaign aimed at 1.2 billion people - 15 percent of the global population - with disabilities. They've also produced a 90-second video to promote the cause of social inclusion.
Shingo Katori, a member of boy band SMAP that had its roots in the 1980s, now works with Paralympic organizers. He acknowledged his early fears of working with people with disabilities.
'Frankly speaking, people in wheelchairs or people with artificial legs - I hadn't had an opportunity to meet these people and I didn't know how to communicate with them,' he said. 'But through Paralympic sports, such hesitation faded away.'
Stutzman, known as the 'Armless Archer,' has a disarming sense of humor - pardon the pun. He jokes about growing up wanting the be like former NBA star Michael Jordan.
'I gave it up,' he deadpans. 'I wasn't tall enough.'
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