What the new Olympic Games date means for major events in all 33 sports

The IOC confirmed on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games which were postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak will take place exactly a year later than planned.

The Games will now begin on July 23, 2021 and run until August 8, 2021, and while the new dates seem a common sense solution – creating less disruption to the sporting calendar than a spring Olympics would have – there are still vast and complex knock-on effects.

So here, we take a look at what the rearranged Games mean for some of the biggest events and championships in all 33 Olympic sports…

Aquatics

The FINA World Championships – which include the Olympic disciplines of swimming, artistic swimming, diving and water polo – are scheduled for July/August next year, meaning a direct clash with the Tokyo Games.

FINA have already confirmed that they will “examine a revision to the proposed dates”.

Archery

The World Outdoor Championships are scheduled to take place in Yankton, USA in 2021, but no date has yet been confirmed and World Archery has said it will announce changes to its calendar in due course.

Athletics

The World Championships in Eugene, USA were due to clash directly with the Games but World Athletics have already confirmed they will be moved to 2022.

Badminton

The Badminton World Federation usually hold World Championships in every year bar those featuring an Olympic Games. The 2021 edition was scheduled to be played in Huelva, Spain, but will be rearranged.

Baseball

Disruption to the baseball and softball calendars should be minimal. There is no Women’s Softball World Championship scheduled for 2021, while the World Baseball Classic, the top tier international tournament in the men’s game, is set for next March.

Basketball

FIBA have already said they will likely move the 2021 EuroBasket competitions, the women’s edition being scheduled for June and the men’s September, possibly to the summer of 2022. The rearranged Games dates are good news for NBA players, who would not have been available to feature in a spring Olympics.

Boxing

The 2021 AIBA World Championships are due to take place in New Delhi. Though the AIBA are currently barred from running the Olympic competition by the IOC, they have said they will rearrange their calendar with the new dates in mind.

Canoeing

Like badminton, both the sprint and slalom disciplines usually hold world championships in every non-Olympic year – the 2021 editions are scheduled for Copenhagen in August and Bratislava in September respectively. The ICF said the change provided a “headache” but confirmed it was already working with its partners to find new dates.

Cycling

The UCI holds World Championships in all four of its Olympic disciplines – BMX, mountain biking, track and road – on an annual basis and so may not necessarily need too much rearranging.

One big change, however, is that from 2021 the UCI has committed to moving the track championships from their usual February/March slot to the autumn, meaning athletes will no longer have the competition as part of their Olympic build-up.

Equestrian

The next World Equestrian Games are in 2022 but the FEI have European Championships in all three Olympic disciplines – jumping, dressage and eventing – scheduled for August 2021. The organisation’s president said it had already started to “explore possible alternatives for a number of major events”.

Fencing

The 2020 Games would have been the first since the federation decided its previously annual World Championships would begin excluding Olympic years. It has not yet been confirmed whether the 2021 competition will be postponed in line with the new policy.

Field hockey

Field hockey World Cups only take place every four years, with the next edition for both men and women not scheduled until 2022. However, the EuroHockey Championships clash directly with Tokyo and will need moving.

Football

The impact on the football calendar should be minimal, with the men’s European Championships and Copa America that were postponed this year taking place earlier in the summer. The Women’s European Championships are already expected to be moved to 2022.

Golf

The new dates do not directly clash with any major men’s or women’s events, but the Olympic opening ceremony takes place just three days after The Open at St. Andrews. The PGA Tour said it will “work with the IGF and the IOC to ensure the Olympic Golf competition fits within the 2021 schedule”.

Gymnastics

The sport is in a good position as far as global championships are concerned – the artistic and trampoline disciplines both have World Championships scheduled for later in 2021, while the next Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are not until 2022.

Handball

There are World Championships for both men and women scheduled in 2021, but they are set for January and December, respectively, and should not need rearranging.

Judo

Judo is another sport that hosts World Championships in all non-Olympic years. The 2021 edition is due to take place in September, a month after the Olympics, but there has been no announcement thus far about a rescheduling.

Karate

Karate should not have a problem – its World Championships are set to take place in November this year, providing the coronavirus outbreak has subsided, and then not again until 2022.

Modern Pentathlon

The UIPM welcomed the new dates as the “best possible outcome” and given it holds annual World Championships, including in Olympic years, does not face a major obstacle, though this year’s postponed event also needs rearranging.

Rowing

The World Championships are due to take place in Shanghai less than two months after the Olympics. However, the summer dates will come as a relief to the World Rowing Federation, who were concerned that a spring Olympics would severely restrict the timeframe for warm-up competition because of the seven-week pre-Games window needed to ship equipment to Japan.

Rugby sevens

There are no obvious problems for the sport – the World Rugby Sevens Series is an annual event, while the next World Cup is not until 2022 for both men and women.

Sailing

The next Sailing World Championships are in 2022 and the sport is in a stronger position than most in terms of qualifying, having allocated almost all of its places by the time the coronavirus shutdown began.

Shooting

The ISSF only hold full World Championships every four years, the next falling in 2022. Additional shotgun championships are usually held in non-Olympic years, but it remains to be seen whether they will go ahead or be scrapped.

Skateboarding

The World Skate Games are scheduled to take place in Argentina in October and November 2021, and since skateboarding is the only one of the 11 disciplines involved to feature in the Olympics, it looks likely to go ahead as planned.

Sport climbing

The 2021 World Championships are due to start just a month after the Olympics, in Russia, but like skateboarding, the small scale of competition at the Games means a postponement may not be necessary.

Surfing

Both the World Surf League and World Surfing Games are annual events, meaning disruption is likely to be minimal.

Table tennis

The ITTF alternate between team and individual World Championships on an annual basis – usually the team championships fall in Olympic years, but in 2021 it will be the individual event. However, it remains to be seen whether this year’s team tournament, which has already been pushed from March to June, will go ahead.

Taekwondo

The 2021 World Taekwondo Championships are due to take place in Wuxi, China, but dates had not yet been announced and there is no consistent traditional slot, meaning organisers should be able to stage them around the Games.

Tennis

The new dates of the Games do not interfere with tennis’ major events any more than they would have this year, with Wimbledon coming a month before and the US Open beginning three weeks later.

Triathlon

The ITU World Triathlon Series is the premier international circuit used to crown world champions and is an annual competition so disruption will be limited to arranging fixtures around the new Olympic dates.

Volleyball

The indoor form of the sport has World Championships every four years, with the next one not until 2022, but there are beach volleyball championships scheduled for Rome in 2021, though dates have not yet been confirmed.

Weightlifting

The IWF are another authority to have recently adopted a schedule that omits World Championships in Olympic years. There is no word yet on what will happen to next year’s but the organisation said after the new dates were announced that “with the highlight of the Summer of 2021 now established, the IWF will calendar its events accordingly.”

Wrestling

Wrestling is in a similar boat and must decide whether to continue with its 2021 World Championships, which are due to be held in Norway in October.