January 11
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially recognizes the corona-virus outbreak in Wuhan, China. The Committee decides to move a qualifying boxing tournament from Wuhan to Jordan. The Committee does not provide any reason to expect the games to be postponed or cancelled at this time.
February 14
The IOC Inspection team releases a statement saying that the games will go on as planned. John Coates, the chairman of the Coordination and Legal Affairs Commission, states, “Advice [from the] WHO is that there is no case for any contingency plans of cancelling the Games or moving the Games.”
March 12
The Torch lighting ceremony goes on in Greece, but without spectators. Criticism is mounting on the IOC as U.S. President Donald Trump suggests that the Olympics be delayed until 2021.
March 17
On March 17th, a conference call was held between the IOC, the National Olympic Committees and the European Olympic Committees (EOC). After the call, several committee members released statements regarding their plans;
The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al-Musallam, stated “The Olympic Council of Asia is fully committed to the Olympic Games [in] Tokyo 2020. We support the principles, guidelines and measures the IOC has taken, and we look forward to the Olympic Games in Tokyo that can offer hope to the world.”
Janez Kocijancic, President of the European Olympic Committees also released a statement. “ We are living through an unpredictable crisis and, as such, it is important that we have one policy, expressed by the IOC, and we follow that policy in unison…It has to be underlined that the current status of European sport is on hold, and this affects all of us and must be considered when decisions are taken.”
At this time, the IOC has decided to not change any of their plans regarding the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in response to the pandemic.
March 19
After the cancellation of the majority of the Greek tour, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Greek Olympic champion Eleftherios Petrounias led the Olympic Torch Relay, running a lap around the historic track, at Panathenaic Stadium. He then handed the flame to the Olympic pole vault champion, Katerina Stefanidi to light the cauldron. Even with the fate of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games up in the air and no spectators in attendance, Greece successfully hands the torch over to Japan.
March 22
The International Olympic Committee announced today that they will step up worst-case-scenario-planning for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. With the COVID-19 pandemic progressing, the committee is forced to modify their existing plans including the start date for the games. These changes will give the committee more time to react to the health situation of the world and more specifically in Japan. The Olympic flame was just welcomed into Japan with open arms as the people still have hope in confidence in the games. Although their reaction is heartwarming, the safety and health of all the people involved, along with the entirety of Japan must be respected appropriately by the committee. With an increase of COVID-19 cases in countries already infected and an increase of countries on that list, precautionary measures are looking more like necessary action.
Although the IOC remains confident that cancelling the games is not on the agenda, there are several more challenges they are currently facing that make it look like the only option. Several of the venues necessary for the Games to be conducted might not be available anymore and with millions already booked for their stays in hotels, preparations to keep health and safety a priority are looking nearly impossible.
March 24
On the morning of March 24th, a conference call was held between the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach (The President of the IOC), and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, where they discussed the rapid changes of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they plan to respond. They were joined by several other Tokyo representatives from government and organizing committees. Based on the most recently updated information from the WHO, both Abe and Bach decided that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games must be rescheduled. They determined it must be beyond this year, but no later than the summer of 2021. It was also agreed that the Olympic flame would remain in Tokyo until the Games commence the following year.
March 30
The International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Government of Japan today discussed on a conference call on the morning of March 30th and agreed on the updated dates for the XXXII Olympiad that will take place in 2021. The Games will take place from July 23rd to August 8th and the Paralympic Games will take place from August 24th to September 5th.
Their decision was based on three focuses:
- The health of the athletes and everyone involved and to support the containment of the COVID-19 virus.
- The interests of Olympic athletes and of Olympic sport.
- The global international sports calendar.
With these three principles in mind, new dates and preparations have proven to be successfully planned, allowing for enough time for authorities to act appropriately to the challenging and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The committees have also released a statement confirming that athletes who already qualified for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will remain eligible.
April 21
Currently the IOC is showing signs of concern for the updated XXXII Olympiad schedule in 2021. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to force a global shutdown to be extended indefinitely. The IOC has stated that if the coronavirus is not contained by the end of 2020, it is likely that they will be forced to cancel the games altogether. The financial burden of postponement has cost billions, and the IOC will not postpone again.
