Tokyo Summer Olympics Postponed Until 2021 Due to Coronavirus

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee decided to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics until 2021. “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,” the IOC said in a statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe added that the 2021 Games will be “proof of a victory by human beings against the coronavirus infections.” Bloomberg notes that the Olympics have never been postponed, and have only ever been canceled in wartime. The Tokyo Games were supposed to have gotten underway on July 24.