Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus outbreak
president Yoshiro Mori, Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto, the governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike, the chair of the IOC's co-ordination commission John Coates, IOC director generalChristopheDeKepper andIOCOlympicGamesexecutive director Christophe Dubi.
TheCanadianOlympicand Paralympiccommitteeshadalready announced they would notcompeteinTokyothissummer,whiletheAustralianshad told their athletes to prepare forapostponementtothesummer of 2021.
Team USA said it had surveyed its athletes with nearly 93 per cent of the 1,780 respondents preferring to see the Games postponed rather than outright cancelled, while 68percentsaidtheeventcould not be fairly competed if continued as scheduled.
The Germany Olympic Committee said a postponement decision was "long overdue".
Its statement, released prior to the official announcement, read: "The examination of the relocation is a correct step of the IOC, which is long overdue in view of the current global health situation, because this now clearly signals internally and externally thattheimplementationofthe Gamesisclearlysubordinateto world health."
British Olympic Association chairman Hugh Robertson had earlier said it was unthinkable that the Games wouldnotbeputback.Robertson said: "We are pretty much there. I think a postponement is pretty much inevitable. I really don't see how there is any way the IOC can press ahead with a start in July this year. Wehavealwayssaidtherewere two things that for us were really important here.
"The first was preserving the competitive integrity of the Olympic Games when the countries are effectively in lockdown. Secondly there is a really serious question about whether it would be appropriate to hold an Olympic Games against this backdrop.”