2020 Olympics in Tokyo to be postponed, IOC member says
The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo will be postponed, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA Today on Monday.
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
On Sunday, the IOC said it would spend the next four weeks determining whether the Games could be held.
“Cancellation is not on the agenda,” the Olympic body said in a statement. That quickly changed.
IOC president Thomas Bach has maintained that organizers were fully committed to beginning the Games on July 24 — despite the fact that many athletes cannot train because of restrictions surrounding coronavirus.
Australia and Canada had already announced their athletes would not attend if the Games were held.
National Olympic committees in Brazil and Slovenia called for a postponement to 2021. Norway’s Olympic body said it did want athletes going to Tokyo until the global health crisis is under control.
The United States governing bodies of swimming and track — two of the three top-tier Summer Games sports — called on their national Olympic officials to push for a postponement.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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