Tokyo Olympics: New dates announced for 2020 Games
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Monday the new dates for the Tokyo Olympics, which were previously postponed to summer 2021 “at the latest.”
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will now take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021. In addition, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games will be celebrated from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
The IOC, along with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Government of Japan, agreed on the new schedule early Monday morning via conference call.
The new dates give all parties involved in the Games the “maximum time” to deal with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the updated schedule falls exactly one year after the Tokyo Olympics were initially planned to take place (Olympic Games: July 24 – August 9, 2020 and Paralympic Games: August 25 – September 6, 2020).
“Any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the International Federationss,” the IOC said in its statement. “Additionally, they will provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process.”
Over the weekend, IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed that all athletes already qualified and Olympic berths already assigned for the Games will remain unchanged. This is because, despite now taking place in 2021, the event will remain the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
