Giant Olympic rings returns to Tokyo Bay

The giant Olympic rings returned to Tokyo Bay on Tuesday four months after being removed for safety and maintenance checks.

The Olympic Symbol, which is 32.6 meters wide and 15.3 meters high and weighs 69 tons, was brought back by a salvage barge to Tokyo's waterfront and reinstalled in the waters of Odaiba Marine Park, with the landmark Rainbow Bridge a few hundred meters behind, reports Xinhua news agency.

The symbol was officially inaugurated on the evening of January 24, exactly six months before the original opening date of the Olympics. It had been lit up every night before it was removed in early August.

The monument will be lit up Tuesday night and the Rainbow Bridge will be specially illuminated in rainbow colours.

The Olympic Symbol will remain throughout the Tokyo Olympic Games, which has been rescheduled to July 23 to August 8, 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic. It will be replaced with a Paralympic Symbol, the three agitos, in Mid-August.