Potential for cancellation of Tokyo 2020

[bardtoob]

The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo Will Be Postponed Due to Coronavirus

The worldwide competition has been pushed to 2021.

www.yahoo.com

. . . postpone "dick pound beer" makes it sound like they are only talking about moving into the Olympic Village.

 

[Aceon6]

I guess it will be up to each country’s feds to figure out qualification. The US had already named quite a few athletes. Will they have to re-qualify?

 

[Theatregirl1122]

The IOC president’s response is a bit... dubious.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/2899848001

“When informed of Pound's comments and asked for an IOC response, spokesman Mark Adams said, ‘It is the right of every IOC member to interpret the decision of the IOC executive board which was announced (Sunday).’”

 

[rosewood]

During a press conference Tokyo governor Koike just said that Tokyo Olys/Paras are going to be postponed approximately one year, not in 2020, around 2021 summer. IOC's Bach and Japan's PM Abe had a teleconference today. Koike was in the conference too.

ETA:
breaking news video of PM Abe explaining about the teleconference

日テレNEWS on Twitter

“【首相発言ノーカット】東京五輪1年延期へ 安倍首相はＩＯＣのバッハ会長と電話会談し、 東京オリンピック・パラリンピックの 予定通りの開催を見送り、1年程度の延期で調整することで一致しました 遅くとも2021年の夏までに行うと合意したということです 安倍首相の発言をノーカットでお届けします https://t.co/uiVxhwuLwH”

twitter.com

 

[nimi]

Official statement is out

Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee - Olympic News

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo, held a conference call this

www.olympic.org

The relevant passage: "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."

 

[Finnice]

While I know this is the only possible decision, I feel for the athletes and also all the people in Japan and elsewhere whose economy is affected because of the postponement.
I had flights, hotel and some tickets. But never mind that.

 

[allezfred]

Knew it was coming, but 2020 officially sucks.

 

[Finnice]

Knew it was coming, but 2020 officially sucks.

Were you going, too?

 

[allezfred]

Were you going, too?

No, but maybe I will have to now.

 

[barbk]

I like how it will still be called Tokyo 2020, even though it will be in 2021. I guess the t-shirts were already printed.

 

[allezfred]

New dates:

Tokyo Olympics to begin July 23 next year after delay due to virus

The Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, will be held from July 23 to Aug. 8 in 2021, an official with knowledge of the matter says.

tinyurl.com

 

[Skate Talker]

A crawl on CBC News Network this afternoon indicates 2020 Olympics (rescheduled to 2021) may be in jeopardy. Specifically it reads, "Tokyo Olympics CEO: Games could be in doubt even in 2021"

 

[Vagabond]

More than just a crawl:

Tokyo Games chief says postponed Olympics not certain to go ahead in 2021

“I don’t think anyone would be able to say if it is going to be possible to get [you-know-what] under control by next July or not,” Muto said on Friday. “We’re certainly not in a position to give a clear answer."

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping this thread back up after 3 months...

Reuters | Breaking International News & Views

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.

uk.reuters.com

“We remain fully committed to celebrating Tokyo 2020 next year in July and August,” Bach told reporters in a conference call.
“The entire IOC is following the principle we established before the postponement (in March) that the first priority is about the safety of all participants.”
“We continue to be guided by the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and based on this advice we are preparing multiple scenarios,” he added. “We don’t know the health situation one year from now.”
He said that holding events without spectators was clearly something the IOC did not want.
“We are working for a solution which on the one hand is safeguarding the health of all participants and on the other hand is also reflecting the Olympic spirit,” Bach added.
Bach also said the IOC had agreed with host nation Senegal to postpone the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar until 2026.

Olympics: No Tokyo Games likely means no Beijing either, says Pound

If the postponed Tokyo Olympics do not go ahead next year due to COVID-19 then the 2022 Beijing Winter Games will likely also fall victim to the pandemic, said long-time International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound.

www.reuters.com

If the postponed Tokyo Olympics do not go ahead next year due to COVID-19 then the 2022 Beijing Winter Games will likely also fall victim to the pandemic, said long-time International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound.
If there is no vaccine and countries are unable to contain the pandemic that continues to rage in different regions of the world, killing more than 580,000 people, then the IOC could once again be forced to postpone or cancel the Tokyo Olympics.
This would most likely trigger a knock-on effect taking out the Beijing Games as well, Pound said.
The Beijing Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 4 to 20, 2022, just six months after the Tokyo Summer Games, which are now set to be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021 after being pushed back a year by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“Taking the political side out of it for the moment say there is a COVID problem in July and August next year in Tokyo, it is hard to imagine there is not going to be a knock-on effect in the same area five months later,” Pound told Reuters in a phone interview.

Pound underscored that at the moment the Tokyo Summer Olympics have the IOC’s complete attention, but added that by the end of the year Beijing will also be on their radar.
“It (China) will certainly not be discussed at the next IOC session we have on Friday,” said Pound. “It is mostly reports and concerns about how we are dealing with Tokyo.
“Beijing is really not on the table at the moment and I think it would be an unnecessarily complicated thing to bring that in because we simply do not know about it yet.”

 

[skatingguy]

Dick Pound has been right about many things over the years, but he's rarely ever correct when he tries to predict the future, or the actions of the IOC.

 

[Sylvia]

IOC press release today:

With one year to go, Tokyo 2020 confirms all venues and competition schedule for the Games in 2021 - Olympic News

The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced at today’s virtual IOC Session that all the venues intended for the Games in 2020 have been secured

www.olympic.org

"The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will feature a record 33 competitions and 339 events held across 42 competition venues." New schedule as of 17 July 2020:

Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics - Athletes, Medals & Results

Relive the moments that went down in history at the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo. Access official videos, results, galleries, sport and athletes.

tokyo2020.org

ETA:

Tokyo Olympic venues lined up, schedule remains the same

The 42 venues for next year’s delayed Tokyo Olympics have been secured and the competition schedule will remain almost identical to the one that would have been used this year.

apnews.com

Estimates in Japan say the delay will cost $2 billion to $6 billion, with Japanese taxpayers picking up most of the bills. Olympic officials have not given any overall cost estimates, and have not specified the cost of renegotiating contracts for venues and other facilities.

“Now we have a mammoth task ahead of us,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Friday. “Organizing these postponed Olympic Games is very different from organizing Olympic Games in normal circumstances. Nobody knows today how the world will look in July and August of next year. This is why we have to prepare for multiple scenarios.”

 

[Bellanca]

Dick Pound has been right about many things over the years, but he's rarely ever correct when he tries to predict the future, or the actions of the IOC.

Even in a normal, stable environment - is that possible? The IOC is predictably unpredictable. Hearsay from those who claim to be in the loop, i.e., Dick Pound.

 

[skatingguy]

Even in a normal, stable environment - is that possible? The IOC is predictably unpredictable. Hearsay from those who claim to be in the loop, i.e., Dick Pound.

Pound has always seemed to have a blind spot where the organization is concerned. Back in the '90's he was overly optimistic about their plans to fight doping, and in recent years he's been overly pessimistic about their actions. I tend to think the IOC always does what's in the organization's best interest, and what ever will keep it's biggest sponsors happy, and that's not unusual for any organization.

 

[Sylvia]

AP article by Stephen Wade:

Postponed Tokyo Olympics hit 1-year-to-go mark -- again

Tokyo observed the original date a year ago.

apnews.com

Excerpts:

Estimates in Japan suggest the postponement will cost $2 billion to $6 billion. The IOC and organizers acknowledge the “massive costs” but say it’s too early to give a number.
This is on top of the $12.6 billion that Japan says it’s officially spending on the Olympics. However, a national auditor says the real cost is twice that much. All but $5.6 billion is public money.
CEO Toshiro Muto has said the 206 national Olympic committees, dozens of sports federations, sponsors, broadcasters, media, and hospitality providers, have been asked to find ways to reduce the size of their delegations arriving in Tokyo.
Muto said organizers are “reexamining service levels and requirements in every possible area.” IOC President Thomas Bach has said “nothing is taboo” as billions in costs pile up.

Billions in television revenue will be lost if the games aren’t held next year, imperiling the IOC’s finances. Getting the Olympics on television and other platforms is a priority, along with keeping the athletes safe off-camera. The American network NBC, the biggest single source of income for the IOC, pays an average of about $1.2 billion for each Olympics.
...
Will there be fans? If so, will they be fans from aboard, or only Japanese? Will athletes face quarantines, and will there be a vaccine? Should young athletes be a priority for a scarce vaccine, and will all agree to be vaccinated? How will athletes be safe in the crowded Athletes Village? How about staffing levels for officials, coaches, and tens of thousands who work behind the scenes? Tokyo had planned to use at least 80,000 unpaid volunteers.

Dr. Ali Khan. an epidemiologist and dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska, suggested the games can be pulled off. Japan has reported about 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, and Tokyo has been largely spared although new cases have recently been rising.
Japan has also closed its borders to citizens from 129 countries.
“First, Japan needs to commit to ramp up its containment efforts and get to zero cases like New Zealand,” Khan wrote. “Next they need to develop a set of tiered operating levels based on global transmission to handle athletes, supporting staff, press, vendors, and fans. Expect national quarantine of players and others before arriving in Tokyo, and then retesting afterward.”

 

[Sylvia]

IOC promo video - One year until Tokyo 2020 #1YearToGo:

One year until Tokyo 2020 #1YearToGo

United by our differences, we have the strength to achieve the incredible.#StrongerTogether #1YearToGoFollow all of today's action: http://oly.ch/Olympics/e...

www.youtube.com

ETA:

Swimmer Ikee speaks at Olympic countdown event | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Japanese swimming star Ikee Rikako delivered a speech at an event marking the start of the one-year countdown to the Tokyo Olympics.

www3.nhk.or.jp

Japanese swimming star Ikee Rikako delivered a speech at an event marking the start of the one-year countdown to the Tokyo Olympics.
The Tokyo organizing committee held the closed-door event on Thursday at the National Stadium, the main venue for the games.
Ikee appeared at 8 p.m., the exact time when the opening ceremony will start next year.
The 20-year-old swimmer, who has leukemia, is aiming to make a comeback. Dressed in white and holding a lantern containing the Olympic flame, she said that a spectacular opening ceremony was due to have been held at the same time the following day and that she had dreamed of taking part in the games.

 

[skipaway]

Tokyo Officials Privately Conclude that Olympic Games will be Cancelled due to Crud

The Japanese government has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus,” The Times’ Richard Lloyd Parry wrote. “The focus is now on securing the Games for the city in the next available year, 2032.”

 

[mjb52]

The Olympics seem really hard to make work under these circumstances. Worlds is one thing, but the Olympics is massive.

 

[Vash01]

Japan and IOC deny that Olympics will be cancelled

Japan and the IOC stood firm on Friday on their commitment to host the Tokyo Olympics this year and denied a report of a possible cancellation, although the pledge looks unlikely to ease public concern about holding the event during a pandemic.

www.reuters.com

They could postpone the summer Olympics till 2022. We will then be back to both summer and Winter Olympics in the same year, like in the past.

 

[Judy]

My niece works for Own the Podium in Ottawa and she said it’s guaranteed to happen. It will be really different. Held over a month. Athlete comes in ... competes ... leaves. Really will be strange.

 

[Vash01]

My niece works for Own the Podium in Ottawa and she said it’s guaranteed to happen. It will be really different. Held over a month. Athlete comes in ... competes ... leaves. Really will be strange.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[rosewood]

Tokyo Officials Privately Conclude that Olympic Games will be Cancelled due to Crud

As far as I know, JPN's government denied the report of the British newspaper.

英紙の東京五輪中止決定報道　組織委否定「菅総理が大会開催へ決意」内閣官房も報道否定（デイリースポーツ） - Yahoo!ニュース

　東京五輪・パラリンピック組織委員会は２２日、英紙「タイムズ」が与党幹部の話として東京五輪を非公式ながら中止せざるを得ないと結論付け、３２年開催を目指していると報じた件について、コメントを発表した。

news.yahoo.co.jp

Machine translation

In addition, the Cabinet Secretariat also announced a comment denying the report, saying, "There was a report that the Japanese government had informally concluded that the Tokyo tournament was canceled, but there is no such fact."

Ms. Koike, the governor of Tokyo, also denied the report.

小池都知事「抗議を出すべきではないだろうか」英紙の五輪中止報道受け　定例会見（デイリースポーツ） - Yahoo!ニュース

　小池百合子東京都知事が２２日、定例の記者会見を開いた。英紙「タイムズ」が与党幹部の話として東京五輪を非公式ながら中止せざるを得ないと結論付け、３２年開催を目指していると報じた件について、「抗議を出

news.yahoo.co.jp

Machine translation

"Should we protest? I think that's what I think. " During the question-and-answer session, Governor Koike , who was asked about the above-mentioned English newspaper report, said, "I have never heard of it. And also, how it is reported and what it is. I don't know if it's available in the form, so I should rather protest. I think this way. " On top of that, "We have been working hard through the government and the Organizing Committee, the IOC, the interim report, etc., and through the coordinating meeting, and some of them have been canceled or postponed. It is a fact that such a story has not come out, "she said based on the history so far. Both the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Cabinet Secretariat have made negative comments regarding the British newspaper's coverage .

 

[MacMadame]

The story in the first link appears to be gone.

 

[Finnice]

Tokyo Officials Privately Conclude that Olympic Games will be Cancelled due to Crud

The same news is here in my country. Sad, if it is true, but so many people lose a lot, some their lives, so what can one say? But if it is true, I do feel for those athletes, to whom it would be the last change to take part to the Games.

 

[allezfred]

From what I have heard, the organisers are pulling out all the stops to make sure the Olympics happen this summer.

 

[Finnice]

From what I have heard, the organisers are pulling out all the stops to make sure the Olympics happen this summer.

I hope your info is the correct one. There are so many rumours contradicting each other. I feel for the athletes.