The International Olympic Committee announced Monday that the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics have new dates for 2021.
The opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics will take place July 23, 2021, almost exactly a year after the event was supposed to start this summer. The closing ceremony is set for August 8, 2021.
The Tokyo Olympics, which were scheduled for July 24-August 9, were postponed Tuesday due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizers considered rescheduling the Olympics for next spring in Tokyo, but ultimately settled on the traditional summer months.
“These new dates give health authorities and all involved in the organization of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the IOC stated in a press release.
The IOC initially resisted postponing the Tokyo Games until last week in hopes that coronavirus concerns worldwide would ease sooner than later. Bans on large gatherings and travel restrictions disrupted qualifying events and preparations to the point they were left little choice, however.
Men and women boxers would’ve been among the more than 11,000 athletes from 206 countries to participate in 33 Olympic sports in Japan this summer. Numerous qualifying events for Olympic boxers were postponed earlier this month due to the pandemic.
This marked the first Olympic postponement in history. Olympics previously were canceled altogether in wartime.
The Summer Olympics were canceled in 1916 due to World War I. The Summer and Winter Olympics were canceled in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II.
IOC president Thomas Bach said all along that canceling the Toyko Olympics was not a consideration.
–boxingscene.com
