After being postponed last week due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics have a new date.
Organizers announced on Monday that the Games will open on July 23, 2021, and close on Aug. 8. The Paralympics will be held from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5 of 2021 as well. Having the Olympics in the spring was considered but it would interfere with European soccer and North American sports leagues, according to the Associated Press.
“I want to thank the International Federations for their unanimous support and the Continental Associations of National Olympic Committees for the great partnership and their support in the consultation process over the last few days,” IOC president Thomas Bach said. “I would also like to thank the IOC Athletes’ Commission, with whom we have been in constant contact. With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government, and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”
“These new 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,” the IOC said in a statement. “The new dates … also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the IFs.”
This is the first time that the Olympics have been postponed or canceled for a reason other than war. World Wars I and II caused the Olympics to be canceled.
