IT'S OFFICIAL: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Is Postponed To 2021.. But Will Still Be Called Tokyo 2020

Wire

IT’S OFFICIAL: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Is Postponed To 2021.. But Will Still Be Called Tokyo 2020

The fate of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic games has been sealed. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, along with International Olympic committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach have both come to agreement to postpone the Olympics to 2021.

As sports events around the world started to either cancel or postpone its events amid the Covid-19 crisis, the IOC surprised everyone by choosing to move forward with the games. One of their earlier statements declared that it was still too early to talk about postponement as the virus could very well die down by the end of July.

Facing mounting pressure and a grim outlook on the coronavirus front, the IOC has finally come to its senses. Originally scheduled to take place between July 24 and August 9, the postponed games will still be dubbed Tokyo 2020 even though it will take place in 2021

“The IOC president and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games … 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,”

Statement from the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.

Believe it or not, the Olympic games has never been postponed or cancelled during times of peace, with 1916, 1940 and 1944, being the only times that the Games were canceled because of world wars. Given the infectious nature of Covid-19 however, the postponement seems to be the only logical thing to do.

In spite of the fact that the games are now postponed, the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. The flame will represent the light at the end of the tunnel for the world in this troubled times and hopefully, the tunnel is more Penchala Tunnel than SMART Tunnel.