After weeks of uncertainty, the Tokyo Olympics will now hold next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year’s Games.
Tokyo organizers announced on Monday that the opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021 — almost exactly one year after the Games were due to start this year.
That nonetheless, the games will still be tagged ‘2020 Olympics’.
“The schedule for the Games is key to preparing for the Games,” Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said.
“This will only accelerate our progress.”
Last week, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers postponed the Olympics and Paralympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s Games were scheduled to open on July 24 and close on Aug. 9. But the nearly exact one-year delay will see the rescheduled closing ceremony on Aug. 8. The Paralympics will run Aug. 24-Sept. 5.
There had been talk of switching the Olympics to spring, a move that would coincide with the blooming of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms. But it would also clash with European soccer and North American sports leagues.
