Canada and Australia will not be sending their athletes to Tokyo Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics. This announcement comes after rising pressure to move the 2020 Olympics to 2021. On Sunday, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced that it was considering a postponement. IOC president Thomas Bach sent a letter to athletes explaining the decision:
“I know that this unprecedented situation leaves many of your questions open,” he wrote. “I also know that this rational approach may not be in line with the emotions many of you have to go through.”
RELEASE: The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee have made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020: https://t.co/HyOBA5wwp4 pic.twitter.com/x9OWABVxMA — Team Canada PR (@TeamCanadaPR) March 23, 2020
In a joint statement, the Canadian and Australian Paralympic Committee said, “While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community,” they continued “This is not solely about athlete health — it is about public health With COVID-19 and the associated risks, it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and the broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these Games. In fact, it runs counter to the public health advice which we urge all Canadians to follow.”
During the weekend Japan Olympic Committee member Kaori Yamaguchi said the Games should be postponed because some athletes had been unable to train. The heads of USA Swimming and USA Track and Field both also called for the Olympics to be postponed to 2021 over the weekend.
Announced back in 2016, the 2020 Olympics were set to be held in Japan. However, after the current pandemic outbreak of the Coronavirus, many countries such as Italy, and Peru have announced a total border closedown to prevent further infection. The spread of the virus also resulted in many sports federations to shut down their season, with the NBA and NFL halting all games. As for other sports, the largest event of the WWE calendar Wrestlemania is set to be pre-tape and aired online. The last biggest event that would amass a large gathering is the 2020 Olympics, but with mounting pressure and many countries practicing social distancing, it is looking unlikely that we will see the Olympics this year.
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