The rings were later illuminated and the neighbouring Rainbow Bridge lit up in a multi-coloured display, as organisers looked to provide a symbol that the rearranged Games can go ahead safely next year.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it plans to also open up other Olympic venues in the coming months, although that could change depending on the coronavirus situation.
The Olympic rings monument installed in Tokyo Bay for the 2020 Summer Games was temporarily removed for maintenance on Thursday and will return in December when Japan heads into the final stretch of preparations for the resheduled event.
Tokyo 2020 organisers will hold meetings with the Japanese government and local Tokyo Metropolitan Government in September to work through various scenarios.
However, at his regular weekly news conference, Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya said the reports were "optimistic" and that nothing had been announced.
The National Stadium, set to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, is one of the venues that has been successfully secured for 2021.
Tokyo 2020 organisers held an earthquake drill on Thursday at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, a newly built venue for next year's Olympics, to test their readiness
Athletes will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken less than 72 hours before arriving in Japan for the Olympics and will be tested "every 96-120 hours" during the Games, according to a report published by organisers.
'If the Olympics were to spread infection, then what are the Olympics for?'
During the first eight days to July 18, torch-lighting ceremonies will be held without spectators and the relay will not be held on public roads, the metropolitan government said. Relays on the islands, however, will be kept on public roads.
Scientists and medical experts are concerned about how things might look next summer, a year after the Tokyo Games were postponed.
The Games had to be postponed from last July and August as the coronavirus spread around the world and are now scheduled for July 23-Aug. 8.
IOC stunned many Games organisers last month by announcing that the marathon, one of the most prestigious events at any Olympics, would be moved to the northern Japanese city of Sapporo to avoid the worst of Tokyo's summer heat.
Radioactive iodine -- exceeding the limit considered safe for infants -- has been detected in Tokyo's tap water amid mounting concerns over food safety in tsunami-hit Japan, which is struggling to contain an atomic crisis at its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments, local organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have all sought to quash persistent speculation that the Games could be cancelled or postponed.
Construction delays at two key Olympic venues could force Tokyo Games organisers into a reshuffle of test event schedules, the organising committee said.
Tokyo Olympics organisers are preparing to host the Games next year even if the global coronavirus pandemic hasn't eased substantially, organising committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said on Tuesday. Muto said he hopes Tokyo 2020 could be the benchmark in a post-pandemic world.
A record heatwave in July 2018 killed over a dozen people in Tokyo with monthly average temperatures transcending 30 degrees for the first time in 20 years.
Towns and cities lined up to host Olympic training or events have increasingly expressed resistance
The Mainichi newspaper earlier reported that the government was planning to ban overseas spectators due to worries they would spread the coronavirus, citing multiple unnamed sources.
Here are some areas where costs have grown, and where income that had been expected will not materialise.
The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event.
From the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg to the London Eye in Britain, cities around the world are lighting up buildings and landmarks in the yellow and green colours of the Brazilian flag on Wednesday to mark 100 days until the Rio Olympics.
The sweltering heat killed 57 people across Japan in the week from July 29 to Aug. 4, the Disaster Management Agency said on Tuesday.
Athletes arriving in Tokyo for next year's Olympic Games, postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be exempt from the 14-day isolation period Japan has imposed on anyone arriving from overseas to help stop the virus spreading.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju had also said that Olympic-bound athletes will be given priority in the vaccination.
Behind the scenes, sponsors who have pumped billions of dollars into the Tokyo Olympics have grown increasingly nervous about how the coronavirus outbreak will impact the tournament.
Alcohol sales have been restricted in and around Tokyo after health officials warned drinking would encourage close contact, loud speaking and mingling in bars that could help spread the virus.
President of the Paralympic Committee of India, Deepa Malik said the apex body of para-sports in India, 'will abide by the international committee as well as in accordance with our government directives on the situation of COVID-19 in our country'.
During his speech, he recalled the role of sport and the Olympic Games to build bridges, bring people together and shape the peace.
Taisuke Matsumoto, a sports law expert at Tokyo's Waseda University, said the contract gives the IOC all the 'bargaining power.' He added that such 'one-sided' deals where the host city has little say are very common for large-scale sports events.
The CEOs of Cricket Australia, the National Rugby League and Football Federation Australia, have signed up to the "Pathway to Pay Equality" report by the Male Champions of Change Institute (MCC), which details a milestone-based approach to achieving pay equity between male and female athletes.
Tokyo 2020 organisers are determined to stage Olympic swimming events in the city centre Odaiba Marine Park venue despite continuing confusion over the water quality.
Ahead of 2020 Olympics, ace Indian wrestler and Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia stated that safety of athletes should be the topmost priority in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Organisers warn participants against eating out over COVID-19 risks.
Olympic organisers say they will not reveal the final torchbearer's identity until the torch arrives in the stadium on live television, watched by billions of spectators.
'A slum free Mumbai cannot happen with Dharavi at the centre of the city.'
'The lessons learnt from the triple disaster have put Japan's energy future On the right path,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Tokyo's sparkling new National Stadium, the centre piece for the 2020 Olympic Games and 2019 rugby World Cup, should ditch its plan for a retractable roof to save money, Japan's sports minister proposed on Monday.
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