ISHOF News: TOKYO 2020 to become TOKYO 2021

Tokyo 2020 To Become Tokyo 2021

The International Olympic Committee has announced the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021 “at the latest” as the coronavirus (COVID-21) pandemic continues its relentless march across the world.

The decision marks the first time in Olympic history that the Games have been postponed. The Olympics of 1916, 1940 and 1944 were cancelled owing to the First and Second World Wars.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had earlier confirmed plans for a one-year delay to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to summer 2021. In a short address to the Japanese media, he also said that Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was in “100% agreement”.

The Japanese leader told the Japanese media before a joint IOC/Tokyo 2020 statement was issued (in full below):

“I proposed to postpone for about a year and [IOC] president Thomas Bach responded with 100% agreement. This will make it possible for athletes to play in the best condition, and will make the event a safe and secure one for spectators.’

Among the first Olympic champions to react was Britain’s Adam Peaty, who is aiming to defend the 100m breaststroke crown, now at Tokyo 2021.

The decision also means the Tokyo Paralympic Games will be subject to a one-year delay.

A joint statement from the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organising committee read:

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO 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 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.'”

Postponement of the Games was announced following an Executive Board meeting and a conference call between Prime Minister Abe and Bach earlier today.

The Tokyo 2021 Statement In Full:

“THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC), THOMAS BACH, AND THE PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN, ABE SHINZO, HELD A CONFERENCE CALL THIS MORNING TO DISCUSS THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT WITH REGARD TO COVID-19 AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020.

“They were joined by Mori Yoshiro, the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee; the Olympic Minister, Hashimoto Seiko; the Governor of Tokyo, Koike Yuriko; the Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, John Coates; IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper; and the IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, Christophe Dubi.

“President Bach and Prime Minister Abe expressed their shared concern about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and what it is doing to people’s lives and the significant impact it is having on global athletes’ preparations for the Games.

“In a very friendly and constructive meeting, the two leaders praised the work of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and noted the great progress being made in Japan to fight against COVID-19.

“The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is “accelerating”. There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO 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 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 IOC board’s agenda had already been set by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the decisions of major stakeholders around the world, athletes to the fore, calling for postponement:

Olympic Popes Finish Last In Tokyo 2020 Race As Others Waft The White Smoke Of Postponement.

Canada had already said that it will not send a team to Tokyo this summer, while Australia’s travel ban effectively ruled out Australia’s participation before the Canadian announcement on Sunday evening.

The Athlete Voice

British rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave, currently the high-performance director of China’s national rowing team, told the Daily Mail in Britain:

“I certainly believe that a year’s delay makes a lot of sense. It gives people the time to potentially get back into training and preparation and get their lives back on track. Hopefully the situation in 12 months’ time will be a lot better than it is now. I would also guess that it would be easier to have a total year delay, than it is a potential October date, with all the processes of road closures and logistics from the city’s point of view.

‘Until there is a vaccine for coronavirus, the chances are it could bounce back at any stage, so you would hope that any sports body would be very cautious about staging any event at this particular time. But what we are going through is much, much bigger than sport.”

Olympic 100m breaststroke champion Adam Peaty released a statement saying that while disappointed as an athlete, he fully supported the decision as “it is a matter of life and death”.

Five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky posted on social media, saying: