India to include only 22 athletes in opening ceremony

© Indian Express
© Indian Express

Tokyo, Japan, July 22, 2021: India will have more than 125 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, but only 22 of them will take part in the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 23.

The Indian delegation revealed that 22 athletes and six officials will take part in the three-hour long Opening Ceremony from 8pm to 11pm with the rest of the contingent opting to miss out due to safety reasons as well as competition and practice the following day.

India will have eight sports represented at the Opening Ceremony. They are hockey (one athlete), boxing (8), table tennis (4), rowing (2), gymnastics (1), swimming (1), sailing (4), fencing (1) and officials (6).

The Indian contingent will be led by flag bearers Mary Kom, London 2012 Olympic boxing bronze medallist, and men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh.

There will be no Indian representation at the Opening Ceremony in the following sports: archery, judo, badminton, weightlifting, tennis and shooting.

Around 1,000 people, including officials and media, will watch Friday’s Opening Ceremony at the new Olympic Stadium from which spectators have been banned, the organisers said.  

Source: Indian Express