Chinanews.com Client, Beijing, March 24th (Wang Sishuo) With the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic worldwide, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will inevitably be affected. The International Olympic Committee and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee issued a joint statement on the 24th Beijing time, agreeing to delay the Tokyo Olympics, saying that "the Tokyo Olympics must be held after 2020 but no later than the summer of 2021."

The statement also stated that the leaders of the National Olympic Committees agreed that the Olympic flame will remain in Japan, and that the Olympic Games will retain the names of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Data map: On February 10, local time, Tokyo, Japan, Odaiba Seaside Park displayed the Olympic rings.

Throughout the history of the Olympic Games for more than a century, only the Berlin Olympics in 1916, the Tokyo Olympics in 1940, and the London Olympics in 1944 were suspended due to war. There has never been any precedent for the Olympics' extension. The Tokyo Olympic Games, originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9, 2020, will be held for the first time.

At the 125th plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held on September 7, 2013, Rogge, then the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, announced that the host city of the 32nd Summer Olympics was set in Tokyo. After Paris, France, London, Los Angeles, and Athens, Greece, the Japanese capital Tokyo has become the fifth city in the world to host the Summer Olympics at least twice, and it is also the first in Asia.

Data Map: The completion ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Stadium ’s main stadium in Japan was held on December 15, 2019. The stadium is controlled at a height of 47 meters, has about 60,000 seats, and about 47,000 plants are planted near the square and the arena. As planned, this will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

On July 18, 2018, the IOC Council formally adopted the basic framework of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and announced that the specific time of this event will start on July 24, 2020 and last until August 9, for a period of 17 days. In addition, as the Olympic Games are in the midsummer of Japan, some events will avoid the hot weather during the day and advance or postpone.

There are 33 major events and 339 minor events in the Tokyo Olympics. New items include five major events including skateboarding, surfing, rock climbing, baseball and softball, and karate, and 16 minor events including table tennis mixed doubles. The full schedule of this event was officially released in April 2019. According to the original plan, the first gold will be born in the women's ten-meter air rifle project on July 25.

Data map: On January 9, local time, the beds, tables, wardrobes and other furniture used in the Tokyo Olympic Village and Paralympic Village will be unveiled. The bed legs are made of cardboard.

However, with the passage of time into 2020, the shadow of the new crown virus emerged around the world and spread rapidly. Affected by the epidemic, many large sports events, including the European Cup football games, have been pressed with the pause button. Whether the Tokyo Olympics will be held as scheduled has not unexpectedly become the focus of external discussions.

In late February, the Associated Press released a message stating that Canadian Dick Pound, who has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1978, said that if the epidemic remains uncontrolled in late May, the Tokyo Olympics may be threatened by Cancel, not postpone or change city.

Data map: On March 4, local time, in Osaka, Japan, a worker showed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic gold medals produced by the Japanese Mint. According to reports, with the approaching date, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games medal production also ushered in the final stage.

This remark broke the window paper and sparked heated public opinion. A Japanese government spokesman and Cabinet Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Wei stated publicly later that Pound's views represented only his own, not the International Olympic Committee. The Tokyo Olympics will be held as planned. The International Olympic Committee has repeatedly reiterated that the preparations for the Tokyo Olympics are proceeding as planned.

Over the following period, opinions from all sides fought one after another, and whether the Tokyo Olympics could be held on schedule frequently appeared in reports and discussions on major media platforms. During this period, the Olympic committees, individual sports organizations and athletes of some countries expressed concern and anxiety about participating in the Olympic Games.

Data Map: On March 19th, local time, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics flame transfer ceremony was held at the Panasinaiko Stadium in Athens. The picture shows the representative of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Naoki Imoto ignited the tinder.

The Canadian and Australian Olympic Committees issued statements on the Tokyo Olympic Games on March 23, Beijing time. The Canadian Olympic Committee stated that if the Tokyo Olympics are not postponed, Canada will refuse to send athletes to participate; the Australian Olympic Committee believes that under the current circumstances, it is difficult for Australia to gather delegations to participate.

In addition, multinational Olympic committees or individual sports organizations, including Brazil, Norway, the United States, and Spain, have also called for the Olympic Games to take into consideration the health factors of athletes through different channels and postpone them.

Data map: Recently, the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation has spread in Japan, and people are wearing masks to travel. The picture shows pedestrians crossing the street in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Lu Shaowei of China News Agency

Against such a background, different parties who had originally held their stance to host the Tokyo Olympics as scheduled also began to have different voices. A few days ago, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President of the International Olympic Committee Bach, and Chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori, have all made suggestions that the Tokyo Olympics will be difficult to hold as scheduled.

Following a statement from Shinzo Abe and Bach on the evening of the 24th, the Tokyo Olympics were eventually announced to be postponed. Nevertheless, the Olympic dream of the sports world is still full of expectations. As Bach said, "I hope we can come to the end of this dark tunnel together, no matter how long it is, the Olympic flame will be a beacon at the end of this tunnel." Everyone is looking forward to the tortuous Tokyo Olympics Even if it is postponed, it can still be presented to the world in a relatively satisfactory manner. (Finish)