New Dates Announced! Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games to commence on these dates

Tokyo, March 31: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) along with, International Paralympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and the Government of Japan, Metropolitan Government have announced new dates on Monday. They have decided to begin the Games exactly after a year from 23 July 2021 to 8 August 2021. Meanwhile, the Paralympic Games will begin from 24 August 2021 till 5 September 2021.

 

 

A week after announcing the postponement due to the widening of coronavirus pandemic, all the authorities involved for the Olympics decided to hold the Games exactly one year after those originally planned for 2020 (Olympic Games: 24 July to 9 August 2020 and Paralympic Games: 25 August to 6 September 2020). The decision was based on three considerations-To protect the health of the athletes and everyone involved, and to support the containment of the COVID-19 virus, to safeguard the interests of the athletes and of Olympic sport, the global international sports calendar.

 

 

The new dates will help the organizers to deal with the constantly changing disruption caused due to Coronavirus pandemic across the globe. In addition to that, it will also provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process. In a call on Tuesday 24 March 2020, based on information provided by the WHO at the time, IOC President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō concluded that the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would be held in their complete form and not later than summer 2021.

 

The IOC President Thomas Bach stated, "I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government, and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”

 

Andrew Parsons, the President of the IPC, commented, "It is fantastic news that we could find new dates so quickly for the Tokyo 2020 Games. The new dates provide certainty for the athletes, reassurance for the stakeholders and something to look forward to for the whole world. When the Paralympic Games do take place in Tokyo next year, they will be an extra-special display of humanity uniting as one, a global celebration of human resilience and a sensational showcase of sport."

 

It has previously been confirmed that all athletes already qualified and quota places already assigned for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will remain unchanged. This is a result of the fact that these Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, in agreement with Japan, will remain the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.