Coronavirus: Sports World Welcomes Postponement of Tokyo Games to 2021

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

The decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics between January and the summer of 2021 on March 24 was widely welcomed. The maintenance of the Olympic Games 2020 on the scheduled dates (July 24-August 9) had become criticized, because of the global pandemic of Coronavirus.

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It's almost unanimous relief, or almost. Athletes, leaders, sports organizations: they were more and more demanding the postponement of the next Summer Games, scheduled from July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo, because of the global pandemic of Coronavirus . On March 24, they won their case, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese authorities agreed on a reprogramming of the Olympic Games to be defined between January and summer 2021.

Tokyo, see you in 2021.
We have a bigger fight to win before 👊🏾

See you in 2021, Tokyo.
First, we have to win a huge fight 👊🏾 # Tokyo2021 #ResterChezVous #StayAtHome pic.twitter.com/1tvO7ubu6G

Thank you @ Tokyo2020 and @Olympics for listening to athletes from around the world and for thinking about everyone's health 🙌🏼
We extend the deadline to better jump sauter # tokyo2021 #stayathome pic.twitter.com/QZMEHIko6Z

Even some organizations, which risk being impacted by this discrepancy, welcomed this choice. " World Athletics welcomes the decision of the IOC and the Japanese government , for example, said the International Athletics Federation. We have already started to discuss with the Organizing Committee of the Oregon 2021 World Championships in Athletics concerning a possible change of dates [August 6 to 15, 2021, Editor's note] of this popular event all over the world ”. The other flagship discipline of the Olympic Games, swimming, is also conciliatory through the voice of its International Federation (FINA), while its Worlds are however supposed to be held in Fukuoka in Japan from July 16 to August 1, 2021.

A warm welcome in Africa, too

In Africa, the choice to postpone the Tokyo Games to 2021 has also been well accepted. " The decision is wise and full of common sense in the interest of the athletes and the populations ," reacted the boss of the African Olympic Committee (ANOCA), Mustapha Berraf, at the microphone of Antoine Grognet. The IOC has demonstrated its high sense of social and humanitarian responsibility by taking this decision jointly with the highest Japanese authorities ”.

Swimmer Chad le Clos, one of the leading figures in African sport, went in the same direction: “ Good decision on the part of the International Olympic Committee. We will be remobilizing for # Tokyo2021 when the time is right. Stay healthy and safe for the next few weeks. "

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