After much anticipation over the fate of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it has been confirmed that the Games are not going ahead as planned amidst widespread health and safety concerns sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Watch below: Meet Angie Scarth-Johnson: The 14-Year-Old Climbing For Olympic Gold
USA Today reports that a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that the Olympics will be postponed, but not cancelled.
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” IOC member Dick Pound told the outlet. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Pound, who has been one of the most influential members of the IOC for decades, said the Games will likely take place in 2021 instead, with details of the postponement to be worked out in the next four weeks.
“It will come in stages. We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”
In a letter to the athlete community, IOC president Thomas Bach announced on Sunday that the committee would begin exploring alternate ways to stage the Games, including postponement – but refuse to cancel the Games, saying it would “destroy the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes.”
“Cancelation would not solve any problem and would help nobody. Therefore it is not on our agenda,” wrote IOC President Thomas Bach last week.
The announcement by Pound comes after The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), confirmed that they will not be sending athletes to the upcoming Summer Games unless organisers postponed the competition until the following year.
“We have athletes based overseas, training at central locations around Australia as teams and managing their own programs. With travel and other restrictions this becomes an untenable situation,” AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said.
“Our athletes now need to prioritise their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families, in discussion with their national federations.”
After much anticipation over the fate of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it has been confirmed that the Games are not going ahead as planned amidst widespread health and safety concerns sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Watch below: Meet Angie Scarth-Johnson: The 14-Year-Old Climbing For Olympic Gold
After much anticipation over the fate of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it has been confirmed that the Games are not going ahead as planned amidst widespread health and safety concerns sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Watch below: Meet Angie Scarth-Johnson: The 14-Year-Old Climbing For Olympic Gold
