IOC Postpones 2020 Olympics
After mulling its options on Monday and receiving pressure from countries around the world, the International Olympic Committee decided on Tuesday to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
IOC President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo held a conference call on Tuesday morning to "discuss the constantly changing environment with regard to COVID-19 and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," according to a statement from the IOC. With the novel coronavirus spreading rapidly around the globe, the two sides agreed that holding a sporting event of the Olympics' size and scale would put athletes, fans, and everyone else involved at risk. Bach, Shinzo, and others involved in the planning process spoke with public health officials in recent days and determined that the games could not be held in that kind of environment.
The Olympics, previously scheduled to begin on July 24, will be rescheduled to "a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021," according to the IOC's statement,"to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."
In the days leading up to the announcement, both Canada and Australia declared that they would not send athletes to the Olympics if they were held in 2020, and other nations expressed concern over the threat of COVID-19 and urged the IOC to consider rescheduling. The IOC announced a four-week deadline on Monday to make a determination, but clearly arrived at a decision before then.
This development could augur an even longer suspension or cancellation of the NBA season, as well as other pro sports league's seasons. The NBA hasn't given any official timetable, though reports have suggested that a best-case scenario could bring the league back by late June. (That timeframe seems even more optimistic now.)
The postponement of the Olympics won't have any implications for Hawks players (Trae Young was left off the 44-man group of finalists for the 2020 U.S.A. Basketball team), but head coach Lloyd Pierce is an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff and will now have more free time on his hands this summer.
This will likely have ripple effects not just for Olympic athletes and coaches, but in sporting leagues around the world. There is more to come, we just don't know how drastic the fallout will be.
