The latest sporting casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic is the Olympic Games after an agreement was struck to postpone the four-year event until 2021.
Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe held a phone conversation with Thomas Bach on Tuesday, who is the head on the International Olympic Committee (IOC). During the talk, Abe purposed that the event should be delayed by 12 months amid growing concerns by both athletes and national Olympic Federations. Canada has previously said that they will not be sending their athletes to the event this summer due to the threat posed by the Coronavirus.
“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,” said a joint statement from the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.
There has been some further details on the suspension from Yuriko Koike, who is the governor of Tokyo. According to Kyodo News Agency, the games will still be called ‘Tokyo 2020’ to symbolize that they overcame the covid-19 pandemic. It will still be held during the summer, but no dates have been issued. Previously athletes have voiced their concerns about playing in the extreme heat. Whilst the suspension was inevitable, there will be a massive impact on the Japanese economy. Highly regarded financial newspaper Nikkei Asian Review that the cost could be as much as $6bn according to their sources.
These costs include the maintenance of temporary sports facility that will have to be kept functioning for a much longer time than anticipated: Makuhari Messe, where the wrestling, taekwondo and fencing events will be held, is one of Japan’s busiest convention centers, it hosted 940 events in fiscal 2018 and is receiving inquiries for dates a year or more in the future; Tokyo Big Sight, which is to serve as the main press center for Japanese and international media, is already being reserved for other events in July and August 2021. Furthermore, the new arrangements will have to be struck with the new owners of the 11,000 apartments of the Olympic Village who will not be able to take possession of their new homes for another year.
The postponement will most likely require the rescheduling of the World Championships for the two most symbolic disciplines of the Olympic Games, swimming and athletics. The 2021 World Aquatics Championships are planned to be held in Fukuoka, Japan, between 16 July and 1 August 2021, with the 2021 World Athletics Championships to follow just a week later (6-15 August) in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
As far as tennis is concerned, much will depend on the new dates of the “2021 Olympic Games”, although it seems likely they will be slotted between Wimbledon and the US Open. The Championships 2021 at the All England Club are currently scheduled to take place between 28 June and 11 July, while the 2021 US Open will start on 30 August to end with the men’s final on 12 September. The Olympics will most likely require some calendar adjustment like it normally happens during Olympic years: the original 2020 calendar now sees the Hamburg European Open, a clay court ATP 500 tournament, start on 13 July, the day after the Wimbledon Championships men’s final, some two weeks earlier than normally planned.
No announcements have been made by the ATP or the WTA as to whether the postponement of the 202o Tokyo Olympics will cause some reshuffling in the 2020 calendar that is still very much tentative at this stage as the world tries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
