BERLIN – On Tuesday the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed
due to the coronavirus.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) first took action in late
January after reports began coming in of infections and deaths from a
new coronavirus in China's central city of Wuhan.
The following is a timeline of the developments leading to the
postponement of the Olympics.
January 24
The IOC says the Asia/Oceania Tokyo 2020 boxing qualifying event will
be moved from Wuhan to Amman, Jordan. The Asian Football
Confederation earlier moved women's football qualifiers from Wuhan to
Nanjing. More qualifying disruption follows in the weeks and months
to come as the coronavirus outbreak spreads globally.
January 29
With the virus now spreading outside China to several countries
including Japan, an IOC spokesperson says it is in contact with the
World Health Organization (WHO) and its own medical experts.
"Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an important
part of Tokyo 2020's plans to host a safe and secure Games."
January 31
Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers dismiss reports the Games could be
endangered by the spread of coronavirus. "We have never discussed
cancelling the Games. Tokyo 2020 will continue to collaborate with
the IOC and relevant organizations and will review any
countermeasures that may be necessary," a statement said.
February 5
Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers express growing concerns. "I'm very
worried that the spread of the infectious disease could throw cold
water on the growing momentum towards the Games. I hope it will die
down as soon as possible," Tokyo Olympics chief executive Toshiro
Muto said, according to broadcaster NHK.
February 13
Tokyo organizers say the outbreak of the coronavirus in China will
not affect the schedules of the Olympics. IOC coordination commission
chairman John Coates said the coronavirus outbreak was an "unexpected
issue" and that Games' authorities would ensure necessary precautions
would be taken for all athletes and visitors.
February 21
After discussions with WHO, the IOC believes the Games do not have to
be cancelled or relocated.
February 24
The IOC remains confident the Games can take place as planned,
despite a growing number of sports events being cancelled around the
world. "The preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 continue as
planned. Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an
important part of Tokyo 2020's plans to host a safe and secure
Games," the IOC said.
February 25
The IOC's longest-serving member, Dick Pound, says in an interview
the coronavirus outbreak could lead to the cancellation of the
Olympics, and the IOC has a three-month window to decide the fate of
the 2020 Games.
February 27
IOC president Thomas Bach says the IOC is "fully committed" to the
Tokyo Olympics going ahead on schedule. Asked on possible
alternatives to holding the Olympics as scheduled, he tells Japanese
media in a conference call: "I'll not add fuel to the flames of
speculation."
March 3
Japan's Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto says the Olympics contract
allows for the Tokyo Games to be postponed within 2020 due to the
coronavirus outbreak. The Games could be delayed as long as it is
held within 2020, he says during an upper house budget committee
session. The IOC repeats its commitment to the Games and says a joint
task force was established in mid-February, involving the IOC, Tokyo
2020 organizers, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and
WHO.
March 4
IOC president Thomas Bach says he does not want to be involved in
speculation about a cancellation or postponement of the Games. Such a
scenario was not discussed in the executive meetings of the IOC in
Lausanne, Switzerland, he said. The IOC executive board "expressed
its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,
taking place from July 24 to August 9 2020."
March 6
Tokyo Games organizers scale down an arrival ceremony for the Olympic
torch and decide not to send 140 children to Greece for a torch
handover ceremony on March 19, a day before it is due to arrive in
Japan.
March 12
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike expresses concerns after WHO declares the
novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. It "could affect"
discussions over the Games and the Paralympics. But she says: "There
is no way that the Olympics will be cancelled when considering the
feelings of Japanese people and the preparations up to this point
that we have done."
- The Olympic flame for the Tokyo Games is lit in Greece in front of
a crowd restricted to 100 because of the coronavirus. The IOC says it
is confident the Games will be held as planned and remains
"absolutely in line with our Japanese hosts in our commitment to
delivering safe Olympic Games in July this year."
March 13
Preparations for the Olympics will continue on track, Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe tells US President Donald Trump, who suggested
the games be postponed.
March 16
John Coates, chairman of the IOC's coordination commission, says the
IOC "didn't recognise any dates" that long-serving IOC member Dick
Pound suggested would be a deadline for postponing the Games. "It's
all proceeding to start on the 24th of July," Australian Olympic
chief Coates told the Sydney Morning Herald.
March 17
The IOC says it is "fully committed" to holding the Tokyo Olympics
and says there is no need for "drastic decisions" now. It says "any
speculation at this moment would be counter-productive." The
statement came as the executive board of the IOC began two-day
teleconferences with athletes' representatives, national Olympic
committees and international federations on the coronavirus crisis.
March 18
The IOC responds to athletes' concerns over lack of training by
saying it is "an exceptional situation which requires exceptional
solutions." The IOC is "committed to finding a solution with the
least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the
integrity of the competition and the athletes' health. No solution
will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on
the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes," an IOC
spokesperson says.
March 21
IOC president Thomas Bach says cancelling the Games would "destroy
the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes from 206 national Olympic
committees and the IOC refugee team. Such a cancellation would be the
least fair solution." But a growing number of sports federations, led
by the powerful US athletics and swim bodies, want the Games
postponed, just as Olympic Committees from countries including Brazil
and Norway.
March 22
The IOC says it plans to decide within the next four weeks whether or
not to hold the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as planned. The IOC
executive board agrees to look at "modifying existing operational
plans for the Games to go ahead on 24 July 2020, and also for changes
to the start date of the Games" amid mounting calls for a
postponement.
March 23
Canada becomes the first country to warn that it won't send its
athletes to the Tokyo Olympics unless they are postponed for a year,
while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expresses doubts the Games
will go ahead as scheduled. "If I'm asked whether the Olympics can be
held at this moment, I would have to say the world is not in such a
condition," Abe tells parliament. World Athletics president Sebastian
Coe tells IOC president Thomas Bach in a letter that an Olympics in
July 2020 is not "feasible or desirable."
March 24
IOC president Thomas Bach agrees on a postponement of the Tokyo
Olympic by up to one year, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says
after a telephone conversation between the pair. Minutes later a
joint IOC and local organizing committee statement confirms the Games
are postponed - for the first time the 124-year history of the modern
Olympics.