Fireworks mark start of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Tokyo's Paralympic Games opened on Tuesday, with athletes hoping to shatter stereotypes and world records despite a year-long pandemic delay. The ceremony came with Tokyo and 12 other regions under a virus state of emergency. The ongoing health crisis will hang over every aspect of the Games, with Japan's Emperor declaring the event open before a largely empty stadium as virus rules mean spectators are banned from almost all events.

Still, for over 4,400 athletes from 162 teams, the Games are a long-awaited moment, after the disappointment of the postponement and worries about a potential cancellation.

Paralympic athletes will be subject to the same rules as their Olympic counterparts, including daily testing, mandatory mask-wearing and limits on their movement. Almost all spectators will be barred from venues.

China is expected to continue its long-running Paralympic gold medal dominance, but host Japan will be hoping its record 254-strong team can repeat the country's Olympic gold rush.

The run-up to the Games has been fraught, with polling for months showing Japanese were opposed to hosting them this summer. The mood seemed to shift once the Olympics got under way, with a majority saying they were glad it had gone ahead, but the virus situation in Japan has worsened dramatically in recent weeks. The country has recorded more than 25,000 daily infections in the past week, and while the death toll remains comparatively small at around 15,500, just 40 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.