Tokyo - Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will attend the opening ceremonies of the 11th world athletics championships in Osaka, the Imperial Household announced Friday. The Osaka worlds open Saturday and run until September 2 with some 2,000 athletes from 203 countries entered in what is the world's biggest single-sports event along with the football World Cup.
The royal couple will stay to watch events on Sunday before returning to Tokyo on Monday.
Japan is hosting the worlds for the second time, following Tokyo in 1991.
