The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese organizers have decided to hold the Olympics from July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo next year. The Games were postponed by a year earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic that has caused all major sporting events to be cancelled or delayed.
The new dates were agreed Monday between the International Olympic Committee and local organizers.
The rescheduling because of the coronavirus came as a seismic shift to athletes worldwide and to organizers in Japan, all of whom had been working for months and years to be ready for the Olympics. Now they’ll need to reset their timetables one year forward. But many people in the Olympic community have welcomed the delay, saying it provided clarity after weeks of growing uncertainty.
Despite the rescheduling, the next Olympics will still be known as the Tokyo 2020 Games
The Olympic flame — which recently reached Japan after being lit in Greece — will remain in Japan until the postponed games are held.
This year marks the first time an Olympics has been postponed