IOC Member Says 2020 Tokyo Olympics “Will Be Postponed” Likely To 2021

Veteran International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound told USA Today on Monday that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed to 2021, with more details coming next month.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

Pound is a leading member of the IOC. He said the IOC would release additional information on the postponement in the next four weeks. 

“It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

This follows Canada and Australia, who said over the weekend, they are not sending athletes to the Games due to the virus crisis. Both countries said their athletes would only be participating in the games if pushed back to 2021.

Canada’s Olympic Committee (COC) and Paralympic Committee (CPC) published a statement on Monday that said, “nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community.”

Martin Richard, communications chief for the CPC, said the world is facing a pandemic, and delaying the Games is more important at the moment. 

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) released a statement that said its athletes would only attend the Games if delayed to 2021.

“The AOC believes our athletes now need to prioritize their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families, in discussion with their national federations.”

US Track and Field and UK Athletics committees have called for a delay as well. Germany, Brazil, and Norway have also urged the IOC to delay the Games to next year.