Tokyo OlympicsJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced to the press on Tuesday (24 March) that he and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach have decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics, which was scheduled to be held this July-August. The games will now be held by the summer of 2021, ANI has reported.
This announcement comes amid weeks of speculation over the status of the games in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The Canadian and Australian Olympic federations had already issued a statement saying that they will not send their athletes to take part in the games if the original schedule was adhered to.
Both the Japanese government and the IOC have ruled out suggestions of cancelling the games. The modern Olympic games have been cancelled thrice since their inception in 1896. The games were cancelled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to the first and second world war.
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