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2020 Olympics to be postponed — 'likely to 2021' — IOC source tells USA Today
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2020 Olympics to be postponed — 'likely to 2021' — IOC source tells USA Today

Was only a matter of time

USA Today reported Monday that a veteran member of the International Olympic Committee told the paper that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed "likely to 2021" and that the details are still being hammered out.

What's happening?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to make its way around the globe and pretty much every major sporting event being canceled or postponed, it was only a matter of time until the IOC had to announce a decision on what was going to happen with the 2020 Olympics that were scheduled to begin July 24.

According to USA Today, longtime IOC member Dick Pound said the decision to postpone "has been decided." All that's left, according to Pound, is to nail down the particulars over the next few weeks.

"On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," Pound told the paper. "The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know."

IOC President Thomas Bach said Sunday that the committee was going to take the next four weeks to decide the fate of the 2020 Games and that he was determined not to cancel the event. Bach wrote a letter to the athlete community, USA Today reported, saying the committee would look for other ways to hold the Games, even if they had to be postponed.

In response to the letter, according to the outlet, multiple countries and entities indicated that, unless the Tokyo Games were postponed, they would not send a delegation. Those countries included Germany, Canada, Australia, Norway, and Brazil. The Paralympic Committee also said it would not send athletes to Tokyo if the games were not suspended.

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