Tokyo: The opening ceremony for the Tokyo Paralympic Games took place at the Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital on Tuesday.
India was represented by para-javelin athlete Tek Chand as India entered the Parade of Nations.
Rio Olympic gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu was supposed to be India’s flagbearer at the opening ceremony but the high jumper went into isolation after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 positive passenger on his trip to Tokyo.
However, Mariyappan and the other athletes who went into isolation have returned negative tests.
Tek Chand was accompanied by 8 officials as India, who will be represented by its biggest ever contingent of 54 athletes, made it to the Olympics Stadium.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to wish the Indian contingent luck ahead of the Games and also shared a video of him cheering them on while watching the opening ceremony.
“Best of luck India! I am sure our #Paralympics contingent will give their best and inspire others,” PM Modi wrote in his tweet.
Tek Chand was given the duty of being India’s flagbearer after Rio Paralympics gold medallist Thangavelu Mariyappan was quarantined following close contact with a COVID-19 positive person on their flight to Tokyo.
The ceremony was set in a ‘Para Airport’ — a symbol of diversity and inclusion — and began with a video that depicted the strength of para-athletes. In the video, a gentle breeze turns into a huge gust of wind that reaches the stadium and sweeps through the field of play.
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