Olympics opening ceremony LIVE

– Team GB have 376 athletes competing in Tokyo 2020.

– No fans will be inside the stadium for the opening ceremony with Tokyo under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

– The first medal chances take place overnight with Seonaid McIntosh competing in the women’s 10m air rifle.

– Track & field events get underway in a weeks’ time with Dina Asher-Smith gunning for medals in the 100m and 200m.

Olympics opening ceremony LIVE

1.30am: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be competing against Dina Asher-Smith in the sprints next week. A popular Olympic figure all over the world but expect British fans to be hoping she has a rare off day next week.

1.10am: It’s not until the opening ceremony where you discover just HOW MANY countries there are competing!

We’re only a quarter of the way through…

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12:57am: And here’s Great Britain. Noticeable height difference between Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi as they fist bump. Just under 25 athletes walking out for Team GB.

12.45am: Argentina have stolen the show here! No holding back from the few walking out as they break out into a chant and bounce around.

12:40am: Now the athletes start making their way out into the stadium with Greece, as is tradition, coming out first.

12:30am: The athletes will soon come out into the National Stadium, but there will be far from the thousands packed into the arena.

Instead, roughly 30 athletes from each country have been selected to walk out into the stadium under their respective nation’s flag.

12.15am: Still quite bizarre watching an Olympics opening ceremony without any fans in attendance. The Japanese flag is raised with a beautiful rendition of the quite haunting national anthem.

12:05am: Some intense protests going on outside of the National stadium from those against the Olympics taking place.

11.55am: With the sporting calendar being wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic, there is a more cautious medals target being set for Team GB at Tokyo 2020.

UK Sport have set a medals target between 45-70 after they won 67 medals at Rio 2016.

11.45am: More on Amber Hill’s devasting withdrawal.

“There are no words to describe how I’m feeling right now,” she said. “After five years of training and preparation, I’m absolutely devastated to say that last night I received a positive Covid-19 test, meaning I’ve had to withdraw from Team GB’s shooting team.

“Although I don’t have any symptoms, I will now isolate as per the Government guidance.”

11.30am: Good morning and welcome to Express Sport’s live coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony.

We’ve all been made to wait a year for the Games to get underway and it’s set to be an Olympics like no other.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the Olympics with no spectators at any of the events.

Those competing will instead be gunning for gold in empty stadiums and arenas.

Team GB have a strong chance of gold medals in a number of events with Dina Asher-Smith being cast as this year’s golden girl.

The British sprinter could potentially win three medals as she competes in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

But there are plenty of other medal hopefuls with the likes of Adam Peaty, Laura and Jason Kenny, Jade Jones and more.

There has been some devastating news for world no 1 shooter Amber Hill, who was forced to withdraw from the Olympics after a positive Covid-19 test.