Summer Olympics, Tokyo
Amid Global coronavirus pandemic, new dates for the Tokyo Olympics has been rescheduled for next year now. The Tokyo Olympics will be held in 2021, from July 23 to Aug 8.
The Summer Games had not been postponed ever since its first event held in 1896, albeit games had to be canceled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to world war.
The quadrennial sporting event was rescheduled for the next year by the organizers due to COVID19 effects.
Thomas Bach, President, IOC, confided,
“With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, the Tokyo metropolitan government, the Japanese government, and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge.”
According to Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of Tokyo Games, after being agreed on IOC ‘new dates for the Olympic games,
“The first-ever postponement of the games has brought up challenges and problems. But I’m sure that deciding the new dates quickly will allow us to speed up our preparations,”
Until Late March, Japan records few cases of novel coronavirus infections but is heavily under pressure from sports organizations and athletes for rescheduling the summer games due to escalated health concerns around the world.
He further added that a battle against COVID needs a longer delay. Mori said Olympics, as well as Paralympics during Summer vacations, would be allowing more people to volunteer and watch sports at venues.
The Paralympic Games will be scheduled between August 5 and September 5, 2021, in Tokyo. The time frame came after a long adjustment for avoiding any kind of conflict with the sports calendar.
Mori expected an abundant time for athletes to book their spots for the Olympics.
“We also thought it will take time to hold qualifications and for the athletes to prepare for them,”
He added “Now that we have decided, we have an unwavering resolve to go forward,”
Due to a spike in COVID 19 cases across the globe, The Olympic flame will not travel to other countries. It will remain burning in Japan.
