Due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the 2020 edition of the biggest sports event on the planet, the Tokyo
Summer Olympics, has been postponed for 2021. The decision was taken on Tuesday
by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the president of the International Olympic
Committee, Thomas Bach. In the present circumstances and based on the
information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister
of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be
rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard
the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the
international community, an IOC press release reads. The leaders agreed that
the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during
these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the
end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present. Therefore, it was
agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the
Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, the release
further shows.
Numerous national
sports federations and Olympic committees have piled up pressure in recent days
on the International Olympic Committee to accept a postponement of the games.
Following the announcement, the president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports
Committee, Mihai Covaliu, said that the decision was to be expected. It was only
a matter of days, hours, before this decision was announcement. It’s a good
thing it came now, because it leaves no room for interpretation and allows
athletes and those leading them to re-think their plans and strategy, Covaliu
said. Sports federations will have to re-analyze their objectives for the
Olympic Games, Covaliu went on to say. Tuesday’s decision is unprecedented, as
never before in times of pace has any edition of the Games been postponed.
(Translated by V.
Palcu)