Dr Abdulla Alrahoomi ensured the UAE team stayed both Covid-free and in top form.
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
One of the strangest Olympics in history will get off to an equally unusual start when the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony takes place in front of thousands of empty seats on Friday.
Just 1,000 dignitaries will be present at the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium for the traditional extravaganza, usually a time of celebration for the host nation.
This time around, after a year's pandemic delay, the Japanese public is largely locked out and distrustful of the Games, fearing an influx of infections from the foreign visitors.
The ceremony will be a low-key affair to prevent crowding, with the parade of nations, a centrepiece of the show featuring smiling and waving athletes, dramatically reduced.
Glimpses of rehearsals witnessed by Tokyo residents suggest a high-tech show including a drone display.
Japan's Emperor Naruhito will be chief among the VIPs, along with a smattering of world leaders and senior figures including US First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Tokyo 2020 has had a difficult build-up and the opening ceremony is no exception, with a series of sackings of people connected with the show.
The creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies, Hiroshi Sasaki, also resigned in March after suggesting a plus-size female comedian appear as a pig.
The ceremony's focal point is the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, which will conclude a tortuous torch relay that started 16 months ago and has run into several obstacles.
After the flame was lit at a spectator-free ceremony in Olympia, Greece in March last year, the Greek section of the relay was scrapped when a crowd mobbed Hollywood actor Gerard Butler in Sparta.
The flame had barely landed in Japan when the Olympics were postponed and it was put on display around the nation until the relay's restart this March.
However, almost half of the relay legs were taken off public roads or otherwise altered over coronavirus concerns, and fans were kept away when it finally arrived in Tokyo this month.
Virus concerns remain high in Japan, with Tokyo under a state of emergency as the Olympics finally start.
Cases in the capital hit 1,832 on Wednesday -- the highest since January. Experts estimate the number will jump to 2,600 in early August, according to Kyodo news agency.
Dr Abdulla Alrahoomi ensured the UAE team stayed both Covid-free and in top form.
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
Apart from ensuring the safety of the Indian athletes, Delhi Police is also preparing to ensure Covid norms are followed
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
Chopra is now setting sight on next year's Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Championships
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
It marked a low-key end to an extraordinary Olympics that have mostly played out in empty venues with only athletes, team officials and media present
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
Chopra led India’s most successful Olympics ever with a gold, two silver medals and four bronze
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
It made Tokyo their second-most successful Olympics overseas after the contingent won 67 medals in the Rio de Janeiro Games five years ago
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
The previous best in gold was 16, both in 1964 and at the 2004 Athens Games. The country won only 12 gold medals five years ago in Rio de Janeiro
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago
The 339th and final gold medal went to Serbia’s men’s water polo team, capping a Games that were in stark danger of cancellation after they became the first postponed Olympics last year
Tokyo Olympics9 months ago