Venezuelan delegation entering the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. Photo courtesy of Tves.
Caracas, July 23 (Special for OrinocoTribune.com)—This Friday, July 23, 2021, the inauguration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was held in the Olympic Stadium of the Japanese capital, Tokyo. As is traditionally done, a delegation from each of the 204 participating countries marched in the opening ceremony, and Venezuela was no exception despite the US and European blockade. The karateka Antonio Díaz and the judoka Karen León were the standard bearers of the Venezuelan delegation. Unfortunately Yulimar Rojas, who had been designated as a flag bearer, could not arrive on time.
Yulimar absent
The Venezuelan athlete Yulimar Rojas will arrive in Tokyo from Spain this Saturday, July 24. For this reason, the Venezuelan gold medal hopeful could not attend the inauguration ceremony, an activity in which she had hoped to participate as a standard-bearer, along with Antonio Díaz. For this reason Antonio Díaz and Karen León were charged with carrying the national flag in the parade of nations at the inaugural ceremony.
Triple-jumper Rojas won the silver medal in the 2016 Olympics, and since then has won the World Championship in 2017 and 2019, in London and Doha, respectively, and the World Indoor Championship in 2018 in Birmingham, England. Rojas was recognized as the best female athlete of 2020 by World Athletics in December of last year, and holds the world indoor triple-jump record.
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Television broadcasting rights secured
Venezuelans will now be able to enjoy television broadcasts of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. This was reported by Venezuelan Minister for Youth and Sports, Mervin Maldonado, from Tokyo.
#VenezuelaEnTokyo 🇻🇪🇯🇵
Así desfiló nuestra delegación en el Estadio Olímpico de Tokyo en la ceremonia inaugural de #Tokyo2020
¡Vamos, #Venezuela!
🎥: @MarcaClaro#JuegosOlímpicos #Olympics #TeamVenezuela pic.twitter.com/67GMH87Wyi
— Punto Olímpico (@PuntoOlimpico) July 23, 2021
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Maldonado announced that all the necessary steps were taken to guarantee the right of the Venezuelan people to tune in to the Olympics, after the required payment—made on time by the Venezuelan government—was blocked by international bodies, and the organizing commission was prevented from collecting the fees, as denounced by the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday.
The minister also recalled that the blockade imposed from abroad affected the regular processes to obtain transmission rights. However, with great effort, in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee, “the official broadcast of the opening ceremony was confirmed,” as were the rights for competition broadcasts, the closing ceremony, and various additional broadcasts of the Olympic Games.
Featured image: Venezuelan delegation entering the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. Photo courtesy of Tves.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza
OT/JRE/SL
Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza
Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza is an expert in international relations, Venezuelan politics, and communication. He served for several years as Consul General of Venezuela in Chicago (United States); before that, he was part of the foundational editorial team of Aporrea.org. He is the founder and editor of the Venezuelan anti-imperialist news outlet Orinoco Tribune.
