The Tokyo Olympics Expected to Be Delayed

Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound has said that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pound said the Games will likely be moved to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next months. He said he expects the IOC to announce its next steps soon.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know. It will come in stages. We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

Canada and Australia became the first countries to pull its athletes out of the Games while other national organizing committees, individuals and athletic groups urged the IOC to reconsider its plans, prompting a change of tone from the organizing committee.

Neither the IOC nor the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee has officially confirmed this at press time.