Following weeks of discussions, the 2020 Summer Olympics have officially been delayed until 2021 due to the still-expanding coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement on Tuesday, after speaking with International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach. The games were originally set to be held from July 24 through August 9.
The games' future has been in doubt since COVID-19 began spreading across the globe earlier this year, though the IOC insisted until recently that they would be held as planned. "A cancellation of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would not solve any of the problems or help anybody," the committee started in an early release. "Therefore, cancellation is not on the agenda." The IOC further argued that rescheduling venues would be nearly impossible, as would adjusting the schedule to account for other International sporting events.
However, as the pandemic continued to grow, Canada and Australia announced their decisions not to send athletes to the worldwide event, while other countries, including the United States, urged the committee to reschedule.
The delay marks the first time the modern Olympics have been rescheduled in a non-wartime scenario. In 1944, the Summer and Winter games were both canceled outright due to World War II.
Via Deadline