First lady Jill Biden will go to the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony

First lady Jill Biden is going to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, not to compete of course, but she will lead the U.S. political delegation to the world games.

“FLOTUS is heading to Tokyo,” Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa said on Twitter Tuesday. “The First Lady will attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Olympics Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan on July 23.”

The Tokyo Olympics, which begin July 23, were originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The first lady will lead the U.S. delegation at the opening ceremony next Friday, Politico reported.

• President Joe Biden will not be attending the opening ceremony and isn’t the first president to miss the games, according to Politico. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both sent representatives to the 2016 and 2018 Olympics.
• White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced in June that the president wouldn’t be attending the games, and that the administration would “continue to also convey the public health guidelines and guidance that we’ve been delivering out there about only essential travel,” reported Politico.

In March, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said spectators would not be allowed into the games because of coronavirus concerns, the Deseret News reported.

• “In order to give clarity to ticket holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the organizers said in a statement, according to the Deseret News.
• “We have to take decisions that may need sacrifice from everybody,” said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, ESPN reported.