Yahoo News New start dates announced for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
The Olympic and Paralympics Games have their new dates set for almost exactly a year to the day from their original dates.
Both events were postponed on 24 March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The new dates for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games have been announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, and the Tokyo government. The Olympics are now set to run from 23 July 2021 to 8 August 2021, while the Paralympics are now scheduled for 24 August 2021 to 5 September 2021.
“Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a press release. “These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”
On 24 March the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 organising committee released a joint statement stating that the Games would be postponed until at least 2021 because of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. However, at that time, no exact dates had been set, as Olympic and Paralympic committees continued to deliberate with Tokyo organisers about when the Games would run.
Less than a week later, hopeful athletes (and athlete who have already qualified) have their answer, with the Olympics pushed back almost exactly a year to the day. The original dates for the Games were 24 July 2020 to 9 August 2020 and 25 August 2020 to 6 September 2020, respectively.
Though having the games moves is a big change for many athletes less than 100 days out of what many were training for, their sights now look forward to a certain future.
“The new dates provide certainty for the athletes, reassurance for the stakeholders and something to look forward to for the whole world,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a press release. “When the Paralympic Games do take place in Tokyo next year, they will be an extra special display of humanity uniting as one, a global celebration of human resilience and a sensational showcase of sport.”
The postponement was the biggest sporting event to see a postponement or cancelation so far during the pandemic. Other major events postponed have been the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, and Barkley Marathons.
Moving the dates back a year also changes the schedule of qualifying events. Tokyo 2020, which is keeping its name despite the date changes, confirmed last week that athletes who had already qualified, like the Olympic Marathon team, will not have to requalify.
World Athletics, the governing body of international track and field, announced late Monday that the world championships would also be pushed back a year to 2022.
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