The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has been postponed by one year until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Olympics was due to be held in Japan from July 24 to August 9, while the Paralympics was set to run from August 25 to September 6, but both have now been rescheduled for next year.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says the Games will be held no later than the summer of 2021 but the event will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The IOC said in a statement: “In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the World Health Organisation 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.”
Pressure had been mounting on the IOC, the local organisers and the Japanese government to confirm a delay, with athletes around the globe unable to train due to social distancing measures imposed to limit the spread of the virus and a number of teams already pulling their teams out of the Games.
The postponement is the first in the Olympics’ 124-year history, although the Olympic flame will remain in Japan.
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