2020 Tokyo Games postponed

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A visitor near the Olympic rings in the Odaiba district in Tokyo on Tuesday Associated Press/Photo by Eugene Hoshiko

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will keep the name but won’t take place until 2021. The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday postponed the event, along with the Paralympic Games, for a year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

What finally prompted the change? Many international sports organizations had already canceled events. On Sunday, the committee set a four-week deadline to make a decision but faced mounting pressure from participating countries. Canada withdrew from the games on Sunday, and the British Olympic Association said it would not likely send a team. U.S. Track and Field also called for a delay.

Dig deeper: Read The Guardian’s report on all the sporting events affected by the new coronavirus.

Onize Ohikere

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks