The Tokyo Games Have Been Postponed

The 2020 Summer Olympics were scheduled to start on July 24th in Tokyo, Japan. President Trump had been urging Japan to postpone the event for one year due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, had, at one point, stated that canceling or postponing the event is not even on the table. One Billion dollars would be lost in ticket prices, plus lost TV Revenus and lost money on hotel accommodations. Things have changed since the initial statement that the games will go on as planned.

IOC member Dick Pound told {{cite)USA Today{{/cite)Sports on Monday afternoon hat the games will indeed be postponed.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

“It will come in stages,” said Pound, 78, the longest-serving IOC member. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

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Update (3/30): The Tokyo Games will take place in 2021 and they will hold the same time slots as this year's games were supposed to be in. They will start on July 23rd, 2021.