Opening Ceremony

Naomi Osaka lights flame as Tokyo's 'games of hope' open

Organisers also paid tribute to medical workers as athletes from across the world paraded into an almost empty stadium, their smiles hidden behind masks for the first time.

Normally a star-studded display teeming with celebrities, the ceremony was low-key, with fewer than 1000 people in attendance, strict social distancing rules and signs calling on spectators to "be quiet around the venue".

For students being part of the Pacific Games Opening ceremony a ‘blessing’

For those involved in one of the momentous occasions in the history of what is considered the ‘Miracle Games’ this is described as an “unexpected blessing.”

With such a short time for Samoa to organise the Games, the people have taken the challenge on board and are working hard to ensure the opening ceremony is a success.

Students from different schools and districts around Samoa are working and blending together with one another – and portraying the slogan of the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games, ‘one in spirit.’

Commonwealth Games officially opened

About 100 noisy but peaceful protesters were contained by police outside the venue some 90 minutes before the official start of the ceremony, attended by Britain's Prince Charles, his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The protesters, carrying signs that read "colonisation is not a game", had earlier disrupted a leg of the Queen's Baton Relay and demanded Britain's royal family members ask them for permission to visit "stolen" land.

Opening Ceremony: 'Rio is ready to make history' as Olympic Games begin

That was the message behind a vibrant Opening Ceremony that heralded the start of the Rio 2016 Olympics.

From supermodel Gisele Bundchen's tribute to the "Girl from Ipanema" to the promise of an athletes' forest to be planted after the Games, Brazil's big night saluted the country's past and pointed towards a greener future.

A day of protests against the hosting of the Games gave way to a night of pageantry at the Maracana Stadium, albeit on a budget one-tenth the size of the equivalent in London four years ago.

Entertaining Opening Ceremony brings curtain up on Samoa Youth Games

Around 2,000 youngsters and teachers featured in the Ceremony, which aimed to reflect the mantra of the Commonwealth Youth Games, such as inspiration and empowerment of young people.

Following a rendition of the Samoan national anthem played by the Police band and a hymn from the Games Choir, the Opening Ceremony began with the Athletes Parade as competitors from the Isle of Man, which hosted the event in 2011, led the 63 nations taking part in the spectacle around the track.