The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Have Officially Been Postponed Due To COVID-19

Main image via Essentially Sports + Life and Style

With the current state of uncertainty in the world, many events and public gatherings have been cancelled.

After much deliberation, it has officially been announced that the Tokyo 2020 Games will be postponed.

via GIPHY

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe and the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach have agreed to postpone the games that were set to be held in Tokyo this year.

This will be one of the rare occasions that the Olympics has been postponed, but of course, it is being done with the well-being of the world in mind as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“I propose to postpone for a bout a year and president Bach responded with 100 percent agreement,” said the prime minister.

Image via Essentially Sports

In recent days, the IOC has come under increasing pressure to postpone or cancel the game amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Scheduled to begin on 24^th July, the games will now take place in 2021 but the exact date will be announced at a later time.

As over 1.7 billion people across the globe are currently on lockdown to help curb the spread of the virus, training for the athletes has become impossible as it exposes them to the risk of contracting or spreading the virus.

Competitions and qualifiers for the games have been getting cancelled and with travel being severely limited, it’s hard to find reasons for the Olympics to continue this year.

Image via The Telegraph

Initially, the IOC had given itself a four-week deadline to come up with a proposal to postpone the games, but the official announcement was made today.

After Canada and Australia pulled out from the competition and the US Olympic Committee and World Athletics joined the call for postponement, it seemed like only a matter of time before the announcement was made.

Joint statement by the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee on the postponement.https://t.co/1XDNmo95JI

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) March 24, 2020

We’re glad that the health and safety of the world during this pandemic has been taken into consideration with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics!

Be sure to take care of your own health and safety and be sure to stay at home to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Stay updated with the latest COVID-19 news here: https://en.syok.my/covid-19

Info via The Star