Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee have decided to reschedule the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games from the previously planned 2020 games to a date that will not be later than the summer of 2021.

In a joint statement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee said;

The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is “accelerating”. There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

This will be the first time that the Olympics is reschedule, it was cancelled thrice due to war but never a pandemic. The 2021 will give every participating country and athletes enough time to heal and get back to training. It was also agreed that “the Olympic flame will stay in Japan and that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.”

Image from @Tokyo2020