The `war against the Coronavirus’ has forced the postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.Just a few days ago, we saw the Tokyo Olympics Torch arrive in the country from Greece. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was still hoping against hope and waiting to see how the Coronavirus pandemic pans out across the world. The IOC’s executive board amid mounting pressure from athletes and many countries officially opting out of the games had to take the final decision of postponement.
The official statement from the IOC’s website reads, “the 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed by one year because of coronavirus, says International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound. Canada, Australia and Great Britain had already declared that they will not be sending their teams this time to compete.
Call it a coincidence or fate but many experts feel Tokyo is a little unlucky when it comes to the Olympics. In 1940, the Summer Olympic, which were originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo, were shifted to Helsinki (Finland) due to the outbreak of World War 2.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that a postponement would be unavoidable if the event cannot be held in a complete way.
Canceling or postponing the Olympic games is not a decision to be taken lightly. The financial blow would really be substantial for Japan as, sports experts tout the country would have invested at least $12.6 billion into the 2020 Olympics by some estimates.
10,000 athletes were scheduled to march into Tokyo’s national stadium for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. An estimated 600,000 overseas visitors were expected to flock to the Japanese capital for the world’s largest sporting event, set to run July 24 through August 9.
Going by the Olympic creed, motto and principle, “the most important thing in life is the struggle not the triumph”. So, let’s hope Japan’s efforts/struggle will not go waste. As the games are only postponed till next year and not cancelled.