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Delayed Olympics set for July 23 next year

TOKYO, March 31, 2020

The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until Aug. 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to plan and prepare for them properly this year.

The Games were postponed last week - the first such delay in the 124-year history of the modern Olympics, reported Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, confirmed the new dates after he made the decision with the International Olympic Committee. Mori said the Paralympic Games would run from August 24-September 5.

Earlier on Monday, the Games’ chief executive, Toshiro Muto, said the committee was moving “in the direction” of honouring tickets bought for the 2020 Games at the rescheduled event, or providing refunds in case of scheduling changes.

The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure from athletes and sporting bodies around the world last Tuesday by agreeing to push back the Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic had already led to many sporting events around the world being delayed or cancelled. After weeks of insisting the Olympics would go ahead, organizers bowed to what many said was the inevitable and delayed what is the world’s premier sporting gathering.
 




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