The TLDR: The ‘Olympics that almost never was’ held its opening ceremony on Friday evening, and the weekend was a rollercoaster for Indians—one big delight and several disappointments. Here’s a quick roundup of what you missed while Netflix-ing instead.

About that opening ceremony…

Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron—and became the first tennis player to do so.

A bunch of celebs sang John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’—though we were more impressed by the drone choreography:

The 205 participating countries marched in the ‘Parade of the Nations’—and “were actively encouraged to select both a male and female representative to carry their flag.” And here were the notable highlights:

One: The contingents included the Refugee Olympic Team—with 29 athletes from 11 countries, living in 13 host countries. The aim is to send a message of hope to those who have been rendered stateless by conflict. FYI: Iranian refugee and taekwondo star Kimia Alizadeh would later narrowly miss out on winning the Refugee Olympic Team’s first ever medal. But there’s still time and hope.

Two: The Syrian flag-bearer was also the youngest athlete at the Olympics: 12-year-old table tennis player Hend Zaza.

Three: Russia has been banned from using their country’s name, flag and national anthem due to an investigation that uncovered a government-backed doping program. So the country's athletes marched into the stadium this year with the Olympic flag and under the name ROC, an acronym for Russian Olympic Committee. FYI: The Russians have been doing their best to sneak in references to Russia—be it in the form of bears on their swimwear, or playing a Soviet folk-based song instead of their anthem. But they will have to make do with a snippet of Tchaikovsky instead.

Four: Everyone was horrified by Italy’s Armani-designed outfits: “It looks like the Italian flag ate Pac-Man and then got violently ill all over a white shirt. Even the shoes were covered with the Italian flag.” See them below. Bonus: a handy slideshow of the ten worst opening ceremony outfits.

Five: But everyone loved Tonga’s flag bearer Pita Taufatofua’s glistening ‘less is more’ look lol!

Awesome stuff on the sidelines: A group of fabulously talented Japanese artists have come together for the World Flags project—which transforms each participating country’s flag into an anime samurai character. This is the one for India. Check the other awesome creations here. BBC News has more on the project.

A rollercoaster ride for India

Here were the Indian stars who gave us the ups and downs over this first weekend:

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu: She gave India our first medal on the very first day. Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg in the 49 kg weightlifting category to win second place. It ended a 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal—and marked India’s second silver in history by a female athlete. It was a stellar achievement for an athlete who had failed to log a single legitimate clean and jerk lift on her debut in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Watch her winning moment below:

Everyone rushed to congratulate her, as did a number of brands, including, as always, Amul:

Two other big female stars: also kept themselves in the running for a medal. Superstar boxer Mary Kom won her opening bout against Dominican Republic's Miguelina Hernandez Garcia. And reigning world champion PV Sindhu took barely 29 minutes to dispatch Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova in badminton.

A history-making debut: Bhavani Devi is the first ever Indian to compete in fencing at the Olympics. And she was off to an excellent start, beating Nadia Ben Azizi 15-3. Scroll has a solid introduction to the sport of fencing.

The big disappointments: The highly talented Saurabh Chaudhary finished #7 in the men's 10m air pistol final. The women’s competition was no less heartbreaking. Both Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to qualify for the finals. In Bhaker’s case, due to a “circuit malfunction” in her pistol, she lost more than five minutes and likely her stride. ESPN has a useful video that demonstrates what happened to Bhaker. 

Also out: Tennis stars Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina who were knocked out of the women’s doubles by Ukrainian twin sisters Nadiia and Liudmyla Kichenok. 

A big worry: The Indian hockey team which was thumped 7-1 by Australia in the opening pool match. 

A mixed bag: In table tennis, Manika Batra made a stunning comeback against world’s #32 Margaryta Pesotska to reach the third round. But G Sathiyan ended his Olympics debut thanks to his far lower ranked rival Hong Kong's Siu Hang Lam.

Our best hopes for metal: So far, our most successful Olympic campaign was the London Games in 2012 which we ended with six medals: Sushil Kumar (wrestling, silver), Vijay Kumar (shooting, silver), Saina Nehwal (badminton, bronze), Mary Kom (boxing, bronze), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling, bronze) and Gagan Narang (shooting, bronze). With a larger contingent, we are hoping to do much better this time around—and hoping that a Sindhu will even bring home a gold. BBC News and Mint Lounge have a good round-up of India’s brightest chances for an Olympic medal. Scroll has a history of our medal tally at the Olympics.

In other happenings…

• Naomi Osaka easily won her opening match against Zheng Saisai of China (6-1, 6-4). She said: “Playing the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a kid so I feel like the break I took was very needed but I feel definitely a little bit refreshed and happy again.”
• But Andy Murray withdrew from the men’s singles due to a quad strain.
• The US won six medals on the first night of swimming finals. The big surprise: Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui taking a shock gold medal in the men's 400m freestyle.
• Speaking of swimmers, medal winners were scolded by Olympic officials for standing maskless at the podium—and hugging each other.
• Algerian judo athlete Fethi Nourine chose to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rather than face an Israeli competitor. Nourine said he "decided to withdraw out of conviction, because this is the very least we can offer the Palestinian cause”—and he wanted to "send a message to the whole world that Israel is an occupation, a lawless country, a country without a flag."
• Last but not least, China’s Li Fabin won weightlifting gold with an astonishing one-legged lift nicknamed the “flamingo.” See it below:

Parting gift: This robot basketball player thrilled viewers at halftime during the USA-France match.

Reading list

Scroll has a wonderful piece on Chanu’s journey from Rio to Tokyo. Indian Express explains why Manipur is churning out world-class weight lifters—and has a good piece on her childhood as a village kid carrying firewood to help her mother. Vulture has an entertaining take on the opening ceremony. Wired explains how AI will help keep time at the Olympics. The Guardian has a blistering op-ed arguing why the Olympics should be permanently canceled. Vox explains why Simone Biles’ fans are worried that judges will not score her fairly at the games. The Guardian reports on how Japan’s five medals are softening the public’s resentment of the games.