THE 2020 Tokyo Olympics (東京奧運) has beenpostponed to the summer of 2021, and nolater, because of the coronavirus pandemic, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on24 March.

The Games were scheduled for 24 July to 9 August,but after telephone discussions between IOC presidentThomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe(安倍晉三), a historic joint decision was taken for thefirst postponement of an Olympics in peacetime.

In a joint statement, the pair said that based oncurrent World Health Organisation information, theGames must be rescheduled to safeguard the health ofthe athletes, everybody involved in the Games and theinternational community.

The decision will be a devastating blow for Tokyo,which had won widespread praise for its organisation,with venues fi nished well ahead of time and ticketsmassively oversubscribed.

The Olympics, which has experienced boycotts,terrorist attacks and protests, has been held every fouryears since 1948.

Training has become impossible for many athletesdue to the risk of contracting or spreading Covid-19.Competitions and qualifi ers have been scrapped, whileinternational travel is severely limited.

Since the Tokyo Games could stand as a beaconof hope to the world during these troubled times, the

Olympic fl ame will stay in Japan and the Tokyo Gameswill keep the name ‘Olympic and Paralympic GamesTokyo 2020’.

(This article is published on Junior Standard on 10 Jun 2020)

Olympic fallout: postponement willupend other events
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Olympic Games offi cial website
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