International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday praised medical workers and volunteers for making the Tokyo Games possible amid the coronavirus pandemic and said the event would send a powerful message of "peace and solidarity."
The Games, postponed last year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, begin on Friday but will be largely without spectators after Japan's decision earlier this month to leave venues empty to minimize the risk of infections.
"When Japan set out 10 years ago to bring the Olympic spirit back to Tokyo ... none of us could have ever imagined the unprecedented challenges we would face," Bach said at the opening of the IOC session, with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga present.