Crowds gather outside Tokyo Olympics 2020 opening ceremony arena

TODAY is the day! The Olympics opening ceremony is finally here, after an entire year of waiting. The world’s biggest sporting spectacle is BACK - despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The opening ceremony begins today at around 12pm. More than 11,300 athletes from 207 will be going for gold over the next two weeks. But this time they have the added issue of extra restrictions like face masks, saliva tests - and cardboard beds designed to discourage them from having sex. The organisers are ploughing ahead with the Games despite huge protests locally, as cases are rising in Japan. Already eight athletes are out having tested positive. There will be a record 339 medal events held across 33 sports, and 34 new events like skateboarding and climbing. There’ll be limited numbers of spectators in the stadiums and the usual atmosphere will be diluted, but the glitz and glamour will remain. So sit tight, buckle in and get ready for today’s extravaganza,