Another bizarre (yet necessary) scene ... the Olympic Torch Handover ceremony went down in Athens, Greece on Thursday -- with ZERO fans allowed at Panathenaic Stadium.
In fact, Japan reportedly contacted little-known former Olympic swimmer Imo Naoko to represent the country ... since the athlete was already living in Greece.
The original plan was to have a massive star-studded event for the flame-passing tradition -- but with the coronavirus pandemic in full swing, organizers wanted as few people involved as possible.
So, Japan contacted former Olympic swimmer Imo Naoko, who was already living in Greece, to represent the host country.