The Tokyo Olympic Games Could Be Canceled if Coronavirus Concerns Continue Next Year

Alexandra Whittaker
·5 min read
Photo credit: Etsuo Hara - Getty Images
Photo credit: Etsuo Hara - Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

  • The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo have been postponed because of coronavirus.

  • Japan’s prime minister and the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed on the move, and the IOC’s executive board just announced the new dates.

  • Unfortunately, there’s still a chance it could be canceled altogether.

Update, April 28, 2020:

We’ve got a new development on the status of the upcoming summer Olympics—after being canceled this year due to the coronavirus concerns, Tokyo Olympic Games Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori is now saying the Games won’t be postponed again if coronavirus continues to be an issue in 2021.

When asked if the Games could be rescheduled again, Yoshiro said, “No. It will be canceled then.”

“The Olympics were canceled in the past for problems like war. We are fighting against an invisible enemy now,” he said in an interview with Nikkan Sports (via CNN). “The Olympics would be much more valuable than any Olympics in the past if we could go ahead with them after winning this battle. We have to believe this. Otherwise our hard work and efforts will not be rewarded.”

Original Story, March 30, 2020:

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are now postponed after coronavirus sparked widespread health and safety concerns.

“We agreed that a postponement would be the best way to ensure that the athletes are in peak condition when they compete and to guarantee the safety of the spectators,” said Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe, according to The Guardian. He said the Games will still be called the “Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020” even if they’re in 2021.

This morning, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board announced the Olympics will now take place from July 23, 2021, through August 8, 2021. The Paralympic Games (originally slated to start August 25, 2020) will now begin August 24, 2021, and conclude September 5, 2021.

“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,” said IOC president Thomas Bach, according to BBC. “Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”

USA Today was the first to break the news, reporting that a member of the IOC confirmed that the Games are postponed—but not canceled.

View this post on Instagram

Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee 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. 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.

A post shared by The Olympic Games (@olympics) on Mar 24, 2020 at 5:55am PDT

“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.”

“It will come in stages. We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

As for why they didn’t cancel the Games, the IOC exec board said that 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 Bach.

Leaders from different sports called for action before the IOC made a move. Tim Hinchey III, the head of USA Swimming, advocated for the Olympics to be postponed until 2021 in a letter to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. USA Track & Field also asked that the 2020 Olympic Games be postponed.

Additionally, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Australian Olympic Committee both announced they would not send athletes to the Summer Games unless the organizers postponed the event until 2021.

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