Coronavirus: New 2021 dates for Tokyo 2020 Olympics
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed exactly a year, after the IOC decided the opening ceremony will be held on July 23, 2021.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed exactly a year, after the International Olympic Committee decided the opening ceremony will be held on July 23, 2021.
The new dates of the Games will be from July 23 to August 8, 2021, with the IOC president Thomas Bach proclaiming: “Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”
The Paralympic Games will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
The date change, prompted by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, was in line with expectations, despite last minute pushes from some international federations wanting the Games to be held outside of the peak extreme heat and humidity conditions.
Mr Bach, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee president Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Olympic and Paralympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto agreed on the new schedule in a phone hookup on Monday.
In a statement the IOC said: “These new dates give the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.’’
It added: “The new dates, exactly one year after those originally planned for 2020, also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the international federations. Additionally, they will provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process.’’
The same heat mitigation measures as planned for 2020 will be implemented for the 2021 Games.
Mr Mori said the consensus was taken to stage the rescheduled Games during the summer vacation in Japan.
“A certain amount of time is required for the selection and qualification of athletes and for their training and preparation,” he said.
“In terms of transport, arranging volunteers and the provision of tickets for those in Japan and overseas, as well as allowing for the COVID-19 situation, we think that it would be better to reschedule the Games to one year later than planned, in the summer of 2021.”
Organisers have also reconfirmed that all athletes already qualified and the quota places already assigned for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will remain unchanged.
The name of the Tokyo Olympics, even though it will be held in 2021, will officially remain the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
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