LAUSANNE (Switzerland): The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may just postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is one goes by the statement of IOC head Thomas Bach on Sunday.
The IOC said that postponing the Games is one as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, but that cancellation of the Tokyo showpiece was “not on the agenda”.
Since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, the only reason that a Games has been cancelled is because of the world wars.
The outbreak of World War I saw the cancellation of the 1916 Games which were slated for Berlin while World War II accounted for Sapporo (winter) and Tokyo (summer) in 1940, and Cortina d’Ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944.
The IOC has faced strong pressure to push back this summer’s games, scheduled from July 24 to August 9, from sporting federations and athletes worried about the health risk as the COVID-19 global death tally rose past the 13,000 mark.
Bach, a former Olympic fencing gold medallist, told athletes a decision on the Games would be made “within the next four weeks”.
“Human lives take precedence over everything, including the staging of the Games,” Bach wrote in a letter.
He acknowledged that this was a time of “tremendous uncertainty” which, he said “destroys hope.”
“We have, as indicated before, been thinking in different scenarios and are adapting them almost day by day,” he said.
But, he added that “there are significant improvements in Japan” and he still had hopes the Games could be held on schedule, even if that would present logistical difficulties.
“A final decision about the date of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 now would still be premature,” he said.
Bach explained that the IOC was discussing its options with health authorities and “stakeholders”.
“We are confident that we will have finalised these discussions within the next four weeks.”
