Concerns over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo are set to headline the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board meeting here this week.
Officials from the IOC and Tokyo 2020 have repeatedly stressed the Games will go ahead as planned, despite the outbreak of the virus, officially known as COVID-19.
IOC President Thomas Bach sought to reassure people that Tokyo 2020 will take place as scheduled in an interview with select Japanese media last week, claiming the organisation is “fully committed to a successful Olympic Games in Tokyo starting on July 24”.
I strongly suspect the olympics will indeed commence, as calendared. Ultimately, it’s for participating nations to bilaterally decide wether their athletes compete or not? Hopefully all participating nations are there to compete.
The decision is still almost 3 months away. Hopefully this will have peaked by then and the Games can go ahead. If it comes to the worst and they can’t be held, I like a friend’s suggestion. Give Tokyo the 2024 slot and push the next ones back. They will just have more time to get ready.