Report: IOC Member Says 2020 Tokyo Olympics Will Be Postponed Due To Coronavirus
(CBS Local) -- The calls for the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have gotten increasingly louder over the past several days and it appears the International Olympic Committee has heard them. Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today Sports that this summer's Games will be postponed, there just hasn't been an exact timetable set yet.
"On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," Pound told USA Today. "The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know."
The comments from Pound come one day after the IOC officially announced that they would be ramping up scenario planning for a potential postponement of the Games. IOC President Thomas Bach said Sunday that cancellation of the Games has been ruled out.
Late last week, USA Swimming and USA Track and Field both released statements calling for the postponement of the 2020 Games. Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Norway and others have all joined that call in the days leading up to Monday's report.
How long the Games will be postponed for, or if they will be pushed back a full year into the summer of 2021, is yet to be determined. If they are postponed, it would be the first time in Olympic history that has occurred. The Games have previously been canceled during times of war (1916, 1940 & 1944). There have also been several instances of boycotts of the Games (1976, 1980, 1984)