Tokyo Games pick out dates for 2021
This year’s games to take place July 23-Aug. 8 of 2021
The Summer Olympics and Paralympics, postponed last week after an outcry from athletes and sports federation officials over fears about the novel coronavirus pandemic, will take place one year later than originally planned.
The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo officials announced Monday they agreed to hold the Games from July 23-Aug. 8 and the Paralympics from Aug. 24-Sept. 5. The dates are almost identical to those originally scheduled; the 2020 events were scheduled to start — and end — a day later.
“The schedule for the Games is key to preparing for the Games,” Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said in a statement. “This will only accelerate our progress.”
The announcement allows athletes, coaches and sports officials to begin a lead up to major qualifying events, such as the U.S. Olympic trials in swimming, track and field and wrestling.
Athletes who had already qualified will keep their spots, the IOC had previously announced.
Holding the Olympics in 2021 will force changes for world championships in swimming and track and field and other sports. But the individual sports federations agreed to the timetable, IOC officials said. The track world championships, originally scheduled for Eugene, Oregon, next summer, are being moved to 2022, World Athletics officials said.
IOC officials said in a statement that the new Tokyo dates “give the health authorities and all involved in the organization of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
IOC officials also said the decision to keep the Olympics in the same time slot will cause the least disruption of the international sports calendar. It also will give broadcasters plenty of time to reconfigure their schedules to help promote the events.
Japanese officials had considered holding the Tokyo Games in spring during the country’s cherry blossom season. But in the end, officials did not want to conflict with the European soccer leagues and NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball seasons. Another consideration was the international tennis and golf schedules.
“A certain amount of time is required for the selection and qualification of athletes and for their training and preparation, and the consensus was that staging the rescheduled Games during the summer vacation in Japan would be preferable,” Mori said.
Organizers also said tickets already purchased would be honored next year, but those unable to attend would be given a full refund.
The sudden changes, however, will lead to at least $2 billion in added expenses, according to estimates. Japanese organizers had said the cost for the Games this year would be $12.6 billion although a government audit had reported the figure would be much higher. Muto told reporters Monday that the delay probably will lead to additional costs because of logistical issues.
“There will need to be guarantees when we book the new dates, and there is a possibility this will incur rent payments,” he said. “So there will be costs incurred and we will need to consider them one by one. I think that will be the tougher process.”
But the sports community welcomed the announcement after facing uncertainty for the past week. Andrew Parsons, International Paralympics Committee president, praised organizers for making the announcement quickly.
“The new dates provide certainty for the athletes, reassurance for the stakeholders and something to look forward to for the whole world,” he said in a statement. “When the Paralympic Games do take place in Tokyo next year, they will be an extra-special display of humanity uniting as one, a global celebration of human resilience and a sensational showcase of sport.”
IOC president Thomas Bach, who was criticized for acting too slow in postponing the Olympics, said in a statement that he hoped everyone will look forward to the competition in 2021.
“Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel,” Bach said. “These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”