Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021

The International Olympic Council has announced its first-ever postponement of the Summer Olympics, due to be held in Japan in July, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The IOC said that the Tokyo Games “must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021,” giving the Japanese organisers one extra year and time for the virus to burn out globally. The Olympics have been cancelled previously in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to war.

Despite being a year late, the IOC said the 2020 Olympics would still be called that title despite their 2021 date. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC president Thomas Bach explained the situation to a partially filled room of journalists in Tokyo following the decision.