Official: Olympic Games in Tokyo postponed due to coronavirus pandemic
"The Games will be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021"
The International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that the Games, scheduled for this summer in Japan, have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The IOC had resisted calls for the Games to be suspended until now, saying last week that they would make a decision within four weeks.
However, with coronavirus continuing to spread across the world at an alarming rate, they have been forced into a decision by the competing countries.
Spanish athletes, currently quarantined in their houses and unable to train, had asked for the games to be moved but things moved quickly after Canada announced this week that they would not be sending their athletes to Tokyo.
Following a meeting on Tuesday, the IOC has finally agreed to postpone the Olympics, saying they will now take place no later than the summer of 2021.
"In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," a statement read.
"The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present.
"Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020."
