Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lit behind closed doors
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch relay got under way on Thursday when the flame was lit by the rays of the sun in ancient Olympia in a scaled-down ceremony overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Actress Xanthi Georgiou, in the role of high priestess, used a parabolic mirror at the site of the ancient Greek Olympics to ignite the torch, before handing it to Greek Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki, the first woman to ever launch an Olympic relay.
The ceremony was the first since 1984 to be held without spectators on the grassy slopes of the stadium, and only a few dozen accredited officials were allowed to watch the lighting at the nearby Temple of Hera.
Meanwhile, any decision to delay the Olympics should be made before May, an organising committee board member told Japanese broadcaster TBS late on Wednesday, as doubts over the Summer Games grow.
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