The Japan National Stadium, which hosted Friday night’s 2021 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, was sodded with a brand of Bermuda grass developed in south Georgia.
TifSport Bermudagrass is one of several grass varieties created and tested at the University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus, according to UGA Today. TifSport is described as a dense, medium- to fine-textured grass bred to withstand the high traffic sports fields see while tolerating herbicides.
Over the next several days, the field will be resodded with Tifton grass, a hybrid bermudagrass that can stand up to heat, sun and wear and tear from sports.
TifGrand bermudagrass is a dense, dark green grass, and it will also be used in the National Stadium for the Summer Paralympic Games in late August.
USDA and UGA researchers at the Tifton campus created Tifway and Tifdwarf, two bermudagrass hybrids that, UGA said, covers more golf courses, athletic fields and lawns that any other turf varieties in the world.
“Tifton has very sandy soil, it rains a lot and then it doesn’t rain at all,” said Brian Schwartz, a professor of Crop and Soil Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “But that makes it a very successful plant breeding location for almost all crops.”
The researchers spend anywhere from five to 10 years—and sometimes more— “trying to kill all the turfgrasses we can,” Schwartz said. “Let’s not fertilize them enough. Let’s beat them up with our traffic machine,” a tool that mimics the natural wear and tear from people playing and walking on the grass in a short amount of time. At the end of the process, the five or 10 grasses left standing are then tested throughout the state and then the Southeast and beyond.”
“It’s easy to claim ‘shade tolerance’ verbally, but it’s not easy to verify such traits scientifically,” said Fumi Miyachi, of Chubu Company in Japan, the company responsible for researching and finding the perfect grasses for the Olympic stadium. “TifGrand was the only scientifically-proven variety in the industry. We quickly signed an experimental evaluation agreement and tested TifGrand locally. The result was more than our expectations.”
The COVID-delayed games finally opened Friday night with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium.
“Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “But let us cherish this moment because finally we are all here together.”
“This feeling of togetherness — this is the light at the end of the dark tunnel of the pandemic,” Bach declared. Later, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka received the Olympic flame from a torch relay through the stadium and lit the Olympic cauldron.
Early in the ceremony, an ethereal blue light bathed the stadium as a single stage held an octagon shape meant to resemble the country’s fabled Mount Fuji. Later, an orchestral medley of songs from iconic Japanese video games served as the soundtrack for athletes’ entrances.
Mostly masked athletes waved enthusiastically on camera, while some marched socially distanced. The Czech Republic entered with other countries even though its delegation has had several positive COVID tests since arriving.
“You had to face great challenges on your Olympic journey,” Bach told the athletes. “Today you are making your Olympic dream come true.”
Organizers held a moment of silence for those who had died in the pandemic.
“Today, with the world facing great challenges, some are again questioning the power of sport and the value of the Olympic Games,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, said in a speech. But, she said of the Games’ possibilities, “This is the power of sport. … This is its essence.”
Japanese Emperor Naruhito declared the Games open, with fireworks bursting over the stadium after he spoke.
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