Tokyo Olympics set to begin on July 23, 2021, organizing committee says
TOKYO - The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee has announced July 23, 2021 as new start date for postponed Olympics Games.
The Games were originally scheduled to begin on July 24, 2020, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new closing date for the Games has been set as Aug. 8. 2021, while the Paralympics are now scheduled to start on Aug. 24 and end on Sept. 5.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to postpone the Olympics last week due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic, but also have agreed to continue to use the Tokyo 2020 branding even though the Games will be held in 2021.
The Olympic flame arrived in Japan on March 20 and will continue to burn here until the Games are staged.
"The schedule for the games is key to preparing for the games," Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori told a news conference, according to the Associated Press. "This will only accelerate our progress."
In a conference call with reporters last Wednesday, the IOC's Bach had said "all options" were on the table for a new date, including holding the Olympics in springtime.
A spring time date would have avoided the intense heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer, but was not as attractive to broadcasters, especially NBC, which hold U.S. broadcast rights and supplies a large chunk of the IOC's revenue for the Games.
In the end, the idea of the Games taking place in spring was never seriously considered, one person familiar with the situation said, which left the summer as the only realistic window.
Postponing the Olympics presented an avalanche of logistical challenges, but having a date now provides a timeline for organizers and the IOC's task force to arrange venues, lodging and broadcast schedules. It would alleviate pressure on individual sports as they reset their own championship events.