IOC bow to inevitable as Games put back to 2021

Decision to delay taken after WHO confirm ‘accelerating’ pandemic

The Olympic Games, the greatest sporting show on Earth, has been put back to 2021 as the world works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

The International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 organisers and the Japanese government finally bowed to the inevitable yesterday and confirmed that the Olympics and Paralympics will now be held in 2021, in the summertime of that year at the latest.

It brings an end to speculation which has shrouded the Games since the initial Covid-19 outbreak in China at the turn of the year, with the pressure from national Olympic committees and international sports federations to postpone having mounted on a daily basis as the virus spread from continent to continent, and city to city.

Postponement instead of cancellation means the cost implications for the IOC and the local organisers will be significant but manageable, as broadcasters and sponsors instead gear up for what they hope will be humanity’s great coming out party in 2021.

The decision to delay was finally taken at a conference call yesterday, following a World Health Organisation update that the pandemic was “accelerating”.

“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,” read a joint statement from the IOC and Tokyo 2020.

“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.”

The decision was welcomed by international federations and national Olympic committees across the world, many of whom, the British Olympic Association included, had been prepared to stand down their athletes from training anyway for their own safety had the IOC not acted.

BOA chief executive Andy Anson said Team GB’s preparation’s had been “compromised irreparably” by social distancing measures in the UK, which were further tightened on Monday night, and he said the IOC’s decision was the right one.

“We have incredible sympathy for the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and indeed our colleagues at the IOC, who are working tirelessly to seek a positive outcome to this difficult scenario,” he said.

“The Olympic Games is a symbol of hope for us all and we are sure that we will be in Tokyo at the right and appropriate time as the world re-emerges from this dark period.”

The staging of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will not be impacted by the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics.

IOC president Thomas Bach finally confirmed yesterday that the Tokyo Games were being put back to 2021.