Eerie scenes as Tokyo Olympics get underway with Softball match

There was a strange atmosphere as Olympic action got underway between Australia and Japan, while the arena had an unusual intruder.

Australia’s softball team has featured in the first official event of the Tokyo Olympics in a deflating scene.

The Aussie team was beaten by host nation Japan in an event that was designed to charge local Olympic spirit just days before Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

However, the eerie scenes of an empty stadium and fake crowd noise featuring on Channel 7’s broadcast got the world’s biggest athletic event off to a less than impressive start.

Pretty sad to see this softball game in front of no fans. But it's on television in the US so it's a win for all concerned.

— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) July 21, 2021

everything about an olympics during a global pandemic — virus-stricken athletes; empty stadiums, softball in fukushima (the site of a nuclear disaster) — is too dystopian to be believed https://t.co/VOQyprEyzS

— Jennifer Hsu (@jennhsu) July 21, 2021

The AP news agency reported there were just 50 people watching at the back of the grandstand – members of the teams’ staff and media representatives.

The softball stadium has a capacity of 30,000.

The stringent coronavirus measures that will surround the Olympics will also result in the 68,000-seat Tokyo Olympic Stadium being deserted during Friday’s opening ceremony. Some commentators labelled the scenes “sad”.

As for the Softball itself, Japan crushed Australia 8-1 after five innings.

The host nation is mad about Softball and it showed, beating Australia by the mercy rule — whereby if a team leads by seven runs after an innings the game is over.

Japan’s Softball team was way too strong for Australia in the opening match of the Games (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)

But it was definitely more eventful outside the stadium, where a bear was spotted trying to sneak in to Softball arena in Fukushima.

The animals are common across Japan and regularly spark frantic hunts when they venture into towns, where they have been known to attack and even kill local residents.

A Fukushima police spokesman confirmed the ursine intruder was spotted last night and then again this morning, just hours before the opening pitch in a match pitting hosts Japan against Australia.

“A guard found a bear inside Azuma Sports Park early in the morning yesterday. We also received similar information this morning,” the spokesman said.

“We couldn’t find or capture the bear, and while there won’t be any spectators at the stadium, we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site.”

The Australian and Japanese Softball teams played their match in front of an empty stadium. (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)

Local media identified the animal as an Asian black bear, with the Sports Hochi daily saying the entire contingent of Olympic guards assigned to the venue spent the night searching for the creature.

They even blasted music and let off firecrackers in an effort to flush out the bear, the newspaper said.

Last month, a brown bear sparked a massive search involving police and local hunters after it rampaged through the northern city of Sapporo, which will host the Olympic marathon.

The bear mauled a soldier and a pedestrian who was hospitalised after the attack.

It was eventually shot dead after a dramatic chase, during which it bounded along a residential street, crossed a busy road and clawed at the gate of a military barracks.

Asian black bears are native to large parts of Japan, including the country’s main island, while brown bears roam Hokkaido further north.

with AFP