TOKYO — There were no fans allowed inside Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
But that didn't stop hundreds of people from gathering just outside the stadium gates – including some in protest.
The crowd spanned nearly the entirety of a street that runs along the western part of the Olympic Stadium on Friday night, with metal barricades and rows of police officers separating onlookers from the stadium.
Most of those gathered seemed to be milling about, perhaps to be present for history or take in the fireworks. But there was also an anti-Olympic protest in front of a clothing store across the street from the southwestern corner of the stadium, where protesters with microphones chanted throughout the first hour of the opening ceremony.
The protest served as an audible reminder of the public opposition to the Tokyo Olympics among COVID-19, which has been simmering for months.
Public polls in Japan have long indicated that the majority of citizens would have preferred to see the Games canceled or postponed a second time amid the continued spread of COVID-19. In a poll conducted by Kyodo News last weekend, 87% of respondents expressed concern about hosting the Olympics during a pandemic, while 31.2% said they believed the Games should be canceled.
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The situation has become so politically fraught that even some of the largest Japanese sponsors of the Games have distanced themselves from the event, including Toyota, which declined to run an TV ads during the television broadcast in the country.
As of Friday morning, 110 people connected with the Olympics had tested positive for COVID-19, including 13 athletes and 12 people who were residing in the Olympic Village at the time of their test. Organizers have said they expected to see some positive COVID-19 cases and they believe the Games will be held in a safe and secure fashion.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
