With the coronavirus continuing to spread globally, the International Olympic Committee announced on March 22 that it would consider postponing the upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were scheduled to begin on July 24. Now, just a day into the discussions, one committee member has signaled that postponing the Games is all but certain. "On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," former Canadian swimmer Dick Pound, the IOC's longest-serving member, told USA Today.
Pound noted that there's been no decision made about when the Olympics will take place, though they're likely to be pushed to 2021. That seems to be in line with comments made by IOC president Thomas Bach, who in a letter to athletes on March 22, explained that "a decision about a postponement today could not determine a new date for the Olympic Games," because of the uncertainty surrounding the virus, with some countries seeing an improvement in the numbers of new cases and others just beginning to see an uptick. On one thing, he was certain: "Cancellation would not solve any problem and would help nobody. Therefore it is not on our agenda," Bach wrote.
The deliberations were announced after mounting pressure from athletes around the globe. On March 21, both USA Swimming and USA Track & Field urged the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to advocate for a postponement, citing concerns that the athletes would not be able to safely train for the Games in this environment. On March 22, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced that it would not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics if they are held in 2020.
The decision to consider postponing the Olympics signals a significant shift from earlier in the year, when Pound told the Associated Press that "you just don't postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There's so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons. You can't just say, 'We'll do it in October.'" While there are lots of logistical challenges in setting a new date, the IOC seems willing to rise to the occasion.
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