Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021 due to Coronavirus outbreak

Many sports fans have been awaiting the Olympics with growing interest and anticipation for their favorite teams and athletes. However, this year’s Olympics will be delayed for one year and is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2021. Since the dawn of the Olympics in 1896, the Summer Olympics have never been postponed before, although they were canceled three times in past due to war. However, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to postpone this summer’s Tokyo Olympics due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Japanese government and the IOC held a series of conferences to confirm the adjusted date for the delayed Olympics. Japan was asked to consider of two-year postponement, but the organizing committee’s president declared that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics cannot be delayed beyond the year-long postponement.

The unprecedented delay of Tokyo Olympics has already created a sequence of severe economic, political, and social ramifications in Japan. The Tokyo organizing committee had said the budget needed for the games was 1.35 trillion yen ($12 billion), but actual spending was around 3 trillion yen. With the postponement of the Olympics, Japan is facing challenges within the government funds and additional costs paid.  Additionally, most of the athletes around the world are now suffering from the sudden change of plans after months of intense training.

As the number of Coronavirus confirmed cases around the world has increased exponentially in such a short time span, Japan has been receiving pressure from foreign countries, athletes, the IOC, and other sports organizations for the cancellation of the Olympics. Many have predicted that the continuation of the Olympics only would have contributed to an exponential rise in Coronavirus cases. Since the Olympics accomodate a massive audiences coming from different countries, the possibility of Coronavirus spreading would be higher than ever. With an increasing awareness of that gruesome possibility, some sports fans suggested having the Tokyo Olympics without any audience members whatsoever. However, this suggestion was soon denied with the possibility of the virus affecting athletes and staff members who would have to stay in the sports stadium. Considering that Japan has already amassed quite a large number of Coronavirus cases and that some athletes were tested positive for the virus soon after the postponement, the postponement was the most logical decision.

Earlier in this week, a Japanese health expert Kentaro Iwata claimed that he is “very pessimistic” that the postponed Olympics can be held on schedule in 2021. Although it is still possible to hold the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, it will require a close look at the trend of the Coronavirus contagion and precise predictions of it. Until then, sports fans and athletes will have to wait. 

Featured Image— Tokyo Olympics stadium Courtesy of Olympic Games

by Amy Kang