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| After IOC bends, Japan finally starts to plan for Olympics postponement | After IOC bends, Japan finally starts to plan for Olympics postponement |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| TOKYO — Japanese authorities finally bowed to the inevitable on Monday and said they would start planning for a possible postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with a decision expected within four weeks. | TOKYO — Japanese authorities finally bowed to the inevitable on Monday and said they would start planning for a possible postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with a decision expected within four weeks. |
| Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, said on Monday the decision to consider a postponement, but not a cancellation, of the Games had been agreed to with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Sunday. Bach wrote to athletes Sunday to break the news to them. | |
| “What we are going to do before anything else is to start by simulating about whether we postpone one month, three months, five months, one year,” Mori said. “We need to make a simulation about the various scenarios.” | “What we are going to do before anything else is to start by simulating about whether we postpone one month, three months, five months, one year,” Mori said. “We need to make a simulation about the various scenarios.” |
| Japan had insisted until now that the Games must go ahead, although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week the priority must be to hold the Olympics in a “complete manner.” | Japan had insisted until now that the Games must go ahead, although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week the priority must be to hold the Olympics in a “complete manner.” |
| Olympic officials concede Tokyo Games may be postponed; Canada won’t send athletes in 2020 | Olympic officials concede Tokyo Games may be postponed; Canada won’t send athletes in 2020 |
| On Monday, he told parliament this might mean the dates would have to change. | On Monday, he told parliament this might mean the dates would have to change. |
| “If that is difficult, we would have no choice but to decide to postpone, with athletes as the first priority,” Abe said, underlining that an outright cancellation is not an option. | “If that is difficult, we would have no choice but to decide to postpone, with athletes as the first priority,” Abe said, underlining that an outright cancellation is not an option. |
| Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said she was “glad to hear” that the IOC did not believe cancellation is an option. | Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said she was “glad to hear” that the IOC did not believe cancellation is an option. |
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| Mori said the IOC and Japan would like to “closely examine” the various scenarios open to them over the next four weeks, adding that they would not start with the assumption the Games would definitely have to be postponed but couldn’t avoid discussing that possibility. | Mori said the IOC and Japan would like to “closely examine” the various scenarios open to them over the next four weeks, adding that they would not start with the assumption the Games would definitely have to be postponed but couldn’t avoid discussing that possibility. |
| For each scenario, organizers would have to work out whether they could still secure the Olympic venues for all 33 sports, as well as for the Paralympics, and what the costs would be. | For each scenario, organizers would have to work out whether they could still secure the Olympic venues for all 33 sports, as well as for the Paralympics, and what the costs would be. |
| “We have to go through each of them one by one,” Mori said. “Considering just these things alone would take an enormous time.” | “We have to go through each of them one by one,” Mori said. “Considering just these things alone would take an enormous time.” |
| What you need to know about the novel coronavirus | What you need to know about the novel coronavirus |
| Mori hinted that organizers would prefer to keep the Olympics within this calendar year when he said: “We are 2020, so that is the direction for now.” | Mori hinted that organizers would prefer to keep the Olympics within this calendar year when he said: “We are 2020, so that is the direction for now.” |
| But Mori and Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto stressed that the cancellation was not in the cards, and they were happy to have heard the same message from the IOC. | But Mori and Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto stressed that the cancellation was not in the cards, and they were happy to have heard the same message from the IOC. |
| “Probably, the IOC was thinking that cancellation would not be desirable for athletes and all the stakeholders,” Muto said. “And this is what we have been saying all along. We totally agree with that.” | “Probably, the IOC was thinking that cancellation would not be desirable for athletes and all the stakeholders,” Muto said. “And this is what we have been saying all along. We totally agree with that.” |
| Japan’s official budget for the Games is around $12.6 billion, but some estimates suggest the total cost could be twice that amount. | Japan’s official budget for the Games is around $12.6 billion, but some estimates suggest the total cost could be twice that amount. |
| In recent days, athletes and sporting organizations around the world have joined a growing chorus for the Games to be postponed on the grounds of health concerns but also because of the problems involved in training and the uncertainty generated by the pandemic. | In recent days, athletes and sporting organizations around the world have joined a growing chorus for the Games to be postponed on the grounds of health concerns but also because of the problems involved in training and the uncertainty generated by the pandemic. |
| It has also become increasingly clear that bringing together millions of people from all over the world to watch the Games could have a disastrous impact on efforts to combat the virus. | It has also become increasingly clear that bringing together millions of people from all over the world to watch the Games could have a disastrous impact on efforts to combat the virus. |
| As other major sports events and leagues have suspended operations and canceled play, Olympic officials had resisted the call to alter its schedule. They spent the past several weeks weighing options, as athletes and sports federations began voicing their concerns. The chorus only grew after Bach sent a letter to Olympic athletes Sunday, acknowledging for the first time that postponement was a possibility but refusing to make a decision for the next four weeks. | |
| Later in the day, the Canadian Olympic Committee said it would not send its athletes to compete in Tokyo this summer. Australia’s national committee also urged its athletes to begin preparing for an Olympics in 2021, and Sebastian Coe, the influential head of World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, called on the IOC to delay the Summer Games by a year. | |
| “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,” the Canadian committee wrote in its letter to Bach, echoing concerns that had been voiced in recent days by organizations such as USA Swimming and USA Track & Field. | |
| Postponement would be an enormously complicated undertaking, involving serious residual effects on the global sporting calendar and forcing broadcasters to renegotiate with advertisers. | |
| There are also doubts about the availability of some venues, including the Olympic Village, where hundreds of apartments have been sold by a consortium of real estate developers for occupancy after the Games, as well as the need to secure the planned media headquarters at the Tokyo Big Sight, a tightly booked conference center. | There are also doubts about the availability of some venues, including the Olympic Village, where hundreds of apartments have been sold by a consortium of real estate developers for occupancy after the Games, as well as the need to secure the planned media headquarters at the Tokyo Big Sight, a tightly booked conference center. |
| For now, organizers say they will push ahead with the torch relay, which is due to start on Thursday in Fukushima in northeastern Japan and is meant to symbolize Japan’s recovery from a 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident in the area. Mori said the prime minister was unsure if he would attend the start of the relay, as the government wanted to discourage crowds forming, although Mori said he himself would attend. | For now, organizers say they will push ahead with the torch relay, which is due to start on Thursday in Fukushima in northeastern Japan and is meant to symbolize Japan’s recovery from a 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident in the area. Mori said the prime minister was unsure if he would attend the start of the relay, as the government wanted to discourage crowds forming, although Mori said he himself would attend. |
| Mori acknowledged the relay route may need to be modified and said organizers were studying how it should be held given the fast-changing situation with the virus. | Mori acknowledged the relay route may need to be modified and said organizers were studying how it should be held given the fast-changing situation with the virus. |
| Tens of thousands of people flocked to a stadium in Sendai north of Tokyo to see the Olympic flame burning in a cauldron over the weekend after it arrived from Greece. | Tens of thousands of people flocked to a stadium in Sendai north of Tokyo to see the Olympic flame burning in a cauldron over the weekend after it arrived from Greece. |
| “We had a turnout nearly 10 times that we had estimated,” Muto said. | “We had a turnout nearly 10 times that we had estimated,” Muto said. |
| Muto said organizers should be happy with the turnout “in and of itself” but had placed risk as their top priority and has changed arrangements so people simply passed by the flame without a crowd forming. | Muto said organizers should be happy with the turnout “in and of itself” but had placed risk as their top priority and has changed arrangements so people simply passed by the flame without a crowd forming. |
| Shut the Olympic Games down, and do it now | Shut the Olympic Games down, and do it now |
| Cancel the Olympics? Postpone them? Every alternative has problems. | Cancel the Olympics? Postpone them? Every alternative has problems. |
| U.S. Olympians scrambling to stay in shape after coronavirus closes training facilities | U.S. Olympians scrambling to stay in shape after coronavirus closes training facilities |
| Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world |
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