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Warren native Tori Piper promises ‘magical’ ceremony

AP A volunteer walks past the Olympic rings ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics on Thursday in Tokyo. The city of Tokyo hit a six-month high in COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day ahead of the start of the Games.

Warren native Tori Piper said the opening ceremony of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is one not to miss.

She should know. This is the fourth Olympics the 2005 Warren G. Harding High School graduate has worked, and most of her time so far in Tokyo has been involved in how to light and capture that ceremony for NBC’s coverage of the event.

“This opening ceremony is definitely one to tune into,” she said during a telephone interview late Wednesday from Tokyo. “I don’t want to give anything away, but the use of drones is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life, just otherworldly and magical.”

One of the challenges this year is Tokyo Olympic Stadium will not be packed with fans for that opening ceremony due to COVID-19, which forced the postponement of the Summer Olympics by a year.

“They’ve done a really good job of filling the field — with social distancing obviously — with a lot of volunteers to recreate that energy,” Piper said. “They’ve put the focus where it needs to be, on the athletes and performers, and then utilized some amazing pieces of technology. It’s hard to call it anything but magical.”

NBC will provide live coverage of the opening ceremony starting 6:55 a.m. today (8 p.m. Tokyo time) as well as primetime coverage of the event 7:30 p.m. today.

While working the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Russia and 2018 in South Korea and the Summer Olympics in 2016 in Brazil, the opening ceremony was one of Piper’s favorite experiences.

“It always gives me a little boost, if I’m tired or overheated or overworked, getting to see the fruits of everyone’s labor and how proud and excited the country that’s hosting is of their country and their commitment to the games,” she said.

“The performances, whether on stage or on the field, they’re putting forward are really worth seeing, and there are some moments in the opening ceremony that will get people in the spirit of the games if they aren’t already.”

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