Tokyo 2020, otherwise known as the 2020 Summer Olympics, has been officially postponed.
The plan to postpone the Games will come in stages, but this announcement is the first step before they start to deal with the major ramifications. A new date has not yet been set, but it seems likely that the Games will go ahead in 2021.
Over the weekend, the IOC gave themselves until mid-April to reach a decision. However, the choice was made following reports that Canada and Australia would not be sending any athletes to the Games, should they continue as planned.
Following talks between Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe and the head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach today (March 24), they have agreed that Tokyo 2020 would be postponed by a year, taking place by the summer of 2021.
After his telephone talks with IOC President Bach, PM Abe spoke to the press and explained that the two have agreed that the Tokyo Olympic Games would not be cancelled, and the games will be held by the summer of 2021. pic.twitter.com/ihe8To2g3R
— PM’s Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) March 24, 2020
In a former statement made on March 23, the IOC Executive Board said: “While there are currently no regions in Japan where a widespread COVID-19 infection has been confirmed, qualifying events for the Tokyo 2020 Games have been disrupted worldwide by the spread of the infection in many countries. A number of athletes and National Olympic Committees have also stated that they are unable to continue training in this environment, and this unprecedented situation has been a cause of great concern to us.
At this stage they had not reached a final decision, but had assured us that “cancellation of the Tokyo 2020 Games is not on the agenda”.
We will update this article as and when we have new information.