On Tuesday, In an unrivalled deed, Tokyo 2020 Olympics was pushed to next year. With Covid19 outbreak, the sports world came to a standstill. The latest to be disrupted by this endemic is the Olympic games.
This comes as a big blow for athletes and Tokyo. First time in the history of the Olympic games, the global event has been postponed in peacetime. Earlier, the games have been disrupted only during the wars.
On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach communicated over a telephone call and decided to postpone the Olympic games to summer 2021. After the call Abe told the reporters that the Olympics and Paralympics will not be cancelled.
Earlier, when many sports games slowed down to a pause, Olympics 2020 was said to be held as scheduled. Over the days, the pandemic has turned the world upside down. As a result of the catastrophe, the national teams were ready to pull out if the games went forward as planned. And so, it was increasingly clear that the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was inching closer towards postponement.
The Olympics have never been postponed for a year or more. It got cancelled during World War II. The 1940 games were deferred at first but then got cancelled.
Postponing the Olympic games for a year seems to be the best choice at the moment. This delay will trigger a great economic loss but is still better than a call off.
According to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Though Olympics are now scheduled to be held in 2021, it will still be called the 2020 Olympics.
Conducting the Olympics 2020 in 2021 has its own obstacles. Athletes will face agreement and sponsorship issues. The additional cost of maintenance and other logistical and miscellaneous expenses are to be met. There will be a conflict with the other games that are already scheduled to take place in 2021.
The epidemic has so far claimed over 20000 lives while infecting over 425000 people across the globe. As of now, the Olympic games being put off is said to be the best measure that could be taken, keeping in mind the safety of the athletes and the spectators.
