Meet Arisa Tsubata: The treadmill star at the Olympic Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics kicked off on Friday, but one non-Olympian stole the early part of the show. Japanese boxer Arisa Tsubata started the ceremony off by running...

The Opening Ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics kicked off on Friday, but one non-Olympian stole the early part of the show.

Japanese boxer Arisa Tsubata started the ceremony off by running on a treadmill for the opening fifteen minutes. Alongside her were other athletes who were exercising on other pieces of equipment that were socially distanced.

Tsubata served as a nurse during Japan’s frontline fight against COVID-19. She was also training to qualify as an Olympic boxer. However, due to the pandemic the qualifiers were canceled and changed to have the top 53 fighters in the world at the Olympics.

“I had been working so hard for a year after the postponement of the Olympics, and it’s so frustrating that I don’t even have the right to compete.” Tsubata said, via Reuters.

Japanese boxer Arisa Tsubata runs on a treadmill during the Opening Ceremony at the Olympics.

The 27-year-old won the national Japanese boxing championship in the middleweight division in 2019. However, she could not qualify because she started boxing three years ago which missed the cut-off. Tsubata focused on the Olympics after quitting her job at a hospital in January.

The new and unusual first act of the ceremony prompted plenty of jokes on Twitter.

Pelaton really stepped up their commercials @Olympics, oh wait that was the #OpeningCeremony #Olympics #treadmill #pelaton
— Trish Devilishly (@TrishDevilishly) July 23, 2021

As someone who has fallen off a treadmill while running, the idea of even jogging on one during the #Olympics Opening Ceremony with the world watching is giving me extreme anxiety.
— Meredith Perri (@MeredithPerri) July 23, 2021

Every time I've attempted to get on a treadmill since the pandemic started. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/cYycCA7rxl
— Ryan Schwartz (@RyanSchwartz) July 23, 2021

Now, that the opening ceremony is underway, it is time for the games to begin. It will be a wild, adventurous couple of weeks from here on out.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Evan Orris