UK PM wishes Team GB 'best of luck' for Olympics

"Nothing unites the United Kingdom quite like this quadrennial extravaganza of sporting excellence," he said in the clip posted on the Downing Street Twitter page.

The Tokyo Olympic Games kicked off on Friday (July 23) with an opening ceremony featuring athletes parading into the stadium by national groups, waving but with smiles hidden behind masks.

Fireworks illuminated an almost empty National Stadium, and a moment of silence was held to honor those lost to COVID-19.

Postponed for a year, organizers were forced to take the unprecedented step of holding the Olympics without fans as the novel coronavirus is on the rise again, taking lives around the world.