UPDATE: Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics rescheduled for summer 2021
Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until summer 2021 at the latest due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
A joint statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 organising committee confirmed the news, following a conference call led by IOC president Thomas Bach and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Following mounting pressure from a host of national Olympic committees and athletes demanding a decision on the staging of the Games, the IOC had given itself four weeks to make a decision, but it has only taken just two days since that deadline was announced to come to the decision to postpone.
The Olympic Games, which were due to begin on 24 July, and the Paralympics, which were due to start just over a month later, will not now take place in 2020, but will happen no later than the summer of 2021.
Tokyo 2020 is the biggest sporting event of the year to be affected by the pandemic, following on from other major tournaments and events, including Euro 2020, Masters golf, the Grand National and French Open tennis.
Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committeehttps://t.co/XNcaa4Gvx8
— Olympics (@Olympics) March 24, 2020
The joint IOC/Tokyo 2020 statement read:
“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO (World Health Organisation) today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,” the statement read.
“The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present.
“Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.”
The coronavirus pandemic is causing mass cancellations and postponements to the majority of sporting events that were scheduled for the spring and early summer, leaving the UK’s major TV broadcasters bereft of potentially thousands of hours of live sports coverage.
The Olympic Games were due to be televised by the BBC and Eurosport in the UK, while Channel 4 were scheduled to broadcast exclusive coverage of the Paralympics.
In a statement, Eurosport’s owners Discovery said:
“Discovery fully supports the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee’s plan to stage the Olympic Games in 2021 and to make every effort to ensure the well-being of spectators, athletes, staff and the international community.
“Our essential planning and deliverables are complete and will now shift into next year. We will continue to develop our products and offerings to best serve our customers and marketing partners in 2021.
For a full overview of all major UK-televised sporting events that have been postponed, cancelled or rescheduled, as well as those which are still due to be staged, visit SOTB’s dedicated coronavirus webpage – sotb.in/coronavirus.
For the very latest developments and up-to-date information on the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on sport, follow rolling live blogs on BBC Sport or Sky Sports.
