'Nightmare has come true': Olympic Games 2020 officially postponed due to coronavirus

For thousands of athletes around the world, this scenario looked like a nightmare. March 24, he became the official decision of the International Olympic Committee. The 2020 Summer Olympics will not be held this year, writes USA Today.

Photo: Shutterstock

As a result of an unprecedented and inevitable move, the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government agreed to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics “to a date after 2020, but no later than the summer of 2021” due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time in modern Olympic history, global health issues have affected the Games.

“Leaders agreed that the Tokyo Olympic Games can be a beacon of hope for the world in these turbulent times,” the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said in a joint statement. “And that the Olympic flame can be the light at the end of the tunnel that the world is in right now.”

According to the organizers, the Olympic flame will remain in Japan during a forced pause, and the Games will also continue to be officially called Tokyo 2020, even if they are postponed to 2021.

On the subject: Poll: what threats do Americans see from the coronavirus

On March 24, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC President Thomas Bach formally agreed with the decision amid increasing pressure and public calls for clarification by athletes and governing bodies.

Although the Olympics were previously canceled during the war and complicated by boycotts, they are rescheduled for the first time. It is not immediately clear whether the Games will be postponed to the summer of 2021 or to the spring, when the famous cherry orchards of Japan bloom.

“A lot can happen in one year,” said Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee. “So we have to think about what we need to do.”

The decision to postpone the multi-billion dollar event will have wide political, legal, logistical and financial implications both locally in Japan and around the world.

It is also causing major difficulties throughout the international sporting community - for federations and leagues who must now adapt their schedules, and for the 11 athletes who have spent years preparing for this summer's competition.

Despite all the difficulties, this path has become increasingly inevitable in recent weeks, as the new 2019-nCoV coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, continued to spread. The infection, first detected in December in Wuhan, China, has infected people in more than 160 countries on six continents, covering entire cities and killing thousands of people.

In the process, it also damaged the Olympic qualification model, forcing several international sports federations and national Olympic committees to postpone or cancel key events. Some athletes and coaches ended up in a foreign country due to travel restrictions. Training modes were violated. The Greek stage of the Olympic torch relay passed without fans, and then was canceled.

Nevertheless, despite these disruptions and the rapid spread of the coronavirus, representatives of the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee have argued for several months that the Olympics will not be affected. Bach encouraged athletes to continue training as usual, even though discussions about the feasibility of the Games continued.

The approach changed as the opening ceremony approached, when it became clear that the pandemic was continuing.

Athletes helped stimulate the process by speaking publicly or by exerting pressure on the leadership of their sport or the national Olympic committee to make a statement. For example, in the United States, leaders in sports such as swimming, athletics and gymnastics called on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees to publicly demand a postponement, which was done later.

“This summer should have been the culmination of your hard work and lifelong dreams, but taking a step back to take care of our communities and each other is the right thing to do,” USOPC Executive Director Sarah Hirshland wrote to athletes after the performance. “The moment of triumph will have to wait until we get back together.”

Retired Canadian hockey player Haley Wickenheiser, the first member of the IOC to publicly call for deferment, called the carryover “the best scenario” and “the message that athletes deserve to hear.”

On the subject: Coronavirus ruins airlines: many will not reach summer without help

This move to transfer the Games data will have serious financial implications for several stakeholders, including the IOC, whose budget is heavily dependent on the income of broadcast partners, and Japan, which has already spent over $ 28 billion to host these Games. One Japanese securities firm previously suggested that canceling or reschedule the Olympic Games would reduce the country's annual domestic product growth by 1,4% in 2020.

The IOC paid insurance premiums in the amount of $ 12 million in 2016 and 2018 to protect against a possible disruption to the Olympics, but Bach did not provide a figure for this year. The IOC had a reserve of about $ 2 billion as of the most recent annual report released last summer.

Japanese citizens accepted their role as hosts of the Games, buying up tickets as soon as they became available. Organizers planned to sell about 7,8 million tickets, at least 70% of them to residents of Japan.

Beyond finances, the decision will also cause significant disruption to the lives of athletes, many of whom are postponing college or other full-time training opportunities in order to perform at their best in the July Olympics. Now they will have to pause their training. Some may be forced to give up entirely - their Olympic dreams dashed, a nightmare come true.

Read also on ForumDaily:

US Cash Crisis: Banks Restrict Withdrawals Due to COVID-19

More Effective than Greenpeace and Greta Tunberg: How the Coronavirus Pandemic Saves the Planet

More than 30 cruise liners remain at sea due to coronavirus: how their passengers live

Over 10 options: how to get financial assistance in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.