The Summer Olympics that had been scheduled to begin in Tokyo this July will instead take place almost exactly a year later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Monday.
The biggest event yet to be affected by the growing COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympics were postponed last week as countries cope to contain a health menace that has claimed more than 37,000 lives and forced millions around the world into lockdowns.
“The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be celebrated from 23 July to 8 August 2021,” the IOC said in a statement. It added that the Paralympics will follow from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.
The move to officially open the Tokyo Olympics 364 days later than planned was confirmed by the IOC after a conference call by its president, Thomas Bach, and leaders of the international federations (IFs) of sports.
This year marks the first time that the Olympics had been postponed; it was suspended thrice before because of World War I and World War II.
The IOC said rescheduling the Games to next July would “give the health authorities and all involved in the organization of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In picking the new dates, the IOC also meant to minimize disruption to the international sports calendar and provide sufficient time to IFs to finish their tournaments to qualify athletes to the 32nd Olympiad.
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Football federation president Mariano Araneta, the country’s chief of mission to the Games, said the one-year suspension will be long enough for the four athletes already qualified and the 56 or so still in the hunt for berths in Tokyo.
“The delay brings clarity to athletes who can now plan their training schedules to the new dates,” said Araneta, who’s in constant touch with the national sports associations (NSAs) of the newest Olympians and the wannabes training here and abroad.
Monico Puentevella, chief of the weightlifting NSA, said the pause will be “more advantageous” for local lifters still vying to compete in 14 weightlifting categories in Tokyo.
He claims that there will be “additional time to mature” for seasoned internationalists Kristel Macrohon, John Ceniza, Elreen Ando and Nestor Colonia, who are in a parallel path with Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz in the sport’s remaining Tokyo qualifying tournaments.
While the 29-year-old Diaz is virtually qualified, the rest of the aspirants, with an average age of 24 years, have shown they can join the field in Tokyo, according to Puentevella.