With many sporting events around the world being canceled or postponed, the move of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan to 2021 shouldn’t be a surprise. On Tuesday March 24 the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach made an agreement to delay the Olympics by one year due to the current situation with the Pandemic of COVID-19. The Olympics have only been canceled or delayed on three other occasions and all were in the 1900’s due to the two World Wars.

   Next summer, the event will still be and the Olympic games Tokyo 2020. The prime minister and President Bach both agreed that the games should be pushed back past 2020 but no further than the summer of 2021 for the safety of the athletes participating. The announcement by the IOC came less than 48 hours after they released a statement saying they were giving themselves at least four weeks to make a decision regarding the games. 

   Before the announcement on Tuesday, pressure across many countries started to mount as they said that if the games were not postponed they would not send any athletes or representatives. Most recently, Canada and Australia were seen backing out of the games to keep their athletes safe. The U.S. was one of many countries checking in with its athletes and representatives to see how they felt about competing in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The U.S. sent out a survey to over 4,000 Olympic hopefuls and seven out of every ten responded that they did not feel safe competing and that it wouldn’t be fair.

   The financial impact of postponing the games could be staggering. The organizers of Tokyo 2020 estimated the cost of the games to be about $12.6 billion while other experts are now saying they could cost closer to $25 billion. The delay in the games will also affect many sponsors and broadcasters. 

   The IOC and Tokyo Organizers hope the postponement of the Olympics will help the world heal from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The IOC released a statement saying, “The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present.”