In what’s almost inarguably the least surprising news of the week, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has officially been postponed due to global coronavirus pandemic.
IOC and Japanese officials came to an agreement to postpone the Games, which will now take place “no later” than the northern hemisphere summer of 2021.
An official announcement on the Tokyo Olympics social media channels was made a short time ago, citing the health of the athletes, officials, and everyone else involved in the Games as the chief factor.
To safeguard the health of the athletes and everyone involved in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will now take place no later than summer 2021.
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) March 24, 2020
The Games, which were originally scheduled to begin on July 24th, were already under huge pressure to postpone given the unprecedented scale of the pandemic. However their fate was virtually sealed this week with both Australia and Canada confirming they would not be sending teams to Japan to compete should the Games take place as scheduled.
Japanese President Shinzo Abe told reporters that a postponement was the right call given the current global climate, and that he and IOC President Thomas Bach were in “100%” agreement on the matter.
“We agreed that a postponement would be the best way to ensure that the athletes are in peak condition when they compete and to guarantee the safety of the spectators,” Abe stated.
A future date for the Games has not yet been set, however it will be beyond the 2020 calendar year, and will occur no later than the Japanese summer of 2021 in order to avoid infringing on Beijing’s right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
In a curious move, the Games will officially retain the “Tokyo 2020” name across all events, despite the fact they will more than likely be held in 2021.
This will be the first time in the history of the modern Olympiad that a Games will have been delayed, and will likely be the first time a Summer Olympic Games will be contested during a non-leap year.
