2020 Olympics Postponed

The 2020 Olympics were scheduled to begin July 24 in Tokyo. Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound stated today that the event would be postponed until 2021. Pound says the details will be worked out in the next four weeks.

Team USA, Team Canada, Team Australia, Team Great Britain and others had previously called for a postponement due to concerns over the outbreak of COVID-19. Both Team Canada and Team Australia stated they would not send athletes to the games in 2020. The IOC announced the decision to postpone the games today.

This will be the first Olympics to face a suspension or postponement outside of periods of war. The 1916 Summer Games were not held due to World War I, and World War II caused the 1940 and 1944 games to cancel.

This is just another in a long line of events to cancel or postpone due to concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The NCAA cancelled its March Madness tournaments and its spring athletic season, the NBA suspended its season, the MLB delayed the opening of its season. People are encouraged to not go out unless absolutely necessary, to wash hands consistently throughout the day and avoid close contact with people as much as possible to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.