Coronavirus and the 2020 Olympics - a timeline

On Tuesday the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed due to the coronavirus. Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP

On Tuesday the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed due to the coronavirus. Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP

Published Mar 24, 2020

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BERLIN – On Tuesday the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed

due to the coronavirus.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) first took action in late

January after reports began coming in of infections and deaths from a

new coronavirus in China's central city of Wuhan.

The following is a timeline of the developments leading to the

postponement of the Olympics.

January 24

The IOC says the Asia/Oceania Tokyo 2020 boxing qualifying event will

be moved from Wuhan to Amman, Jordan. The Asian Football

Confederation earlier moved women's football qualifiers from Wuhan to

Nanjing. More qualifying disruption follows in the weeks and months

to come as the coronavirus outbreak spreads globally.

January 29

With the virus now spreading outside China to several countries

including Japan, an IOC spokesperson says it is in contact with the

World Health Organization (WHO) and its own medical experts.

"Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an important

part of Tokyo 2020's plans to host a safe and secure Games."

January 31

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers dismiss reports the Games could be

endangered by the spread of coronavirus. "We have never discussed

cancelling the Games. Tokyo 2020 will continue to collaborate with

the IOC and relevant organizations and will review any

countermeasures that may be necessary," a statement said.

February 5

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers express growing concerns. "I'm very

worried that the spread of the infectious disease could throw cold

water on the growing momentum towards the Games. I hope it will die

down as soon as possible," Tokyo Olympics chief executive Toshiro

Muto said, according to broadcaster NHK.

February 13

Tokyo organizers say the outbreak of the coronavirus in China will

not affect the schedules of the Olympics. IOC coordination commission

chairman John Coates said the coronavirus outbreak was an "unexpected

issue" and that Games' authorities would ensure necessary precautions

would be taken for all athletes and visitors.

February 21

After discussions with WHO, the IOC believes the Games do not have to

be cancelled or relocated.

February 24

The IOC remains confident the Games can take place as planned,

despite a growing number of sports events being cancelled around the

world. "The preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 continue as

planned. Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an

important part of Tokyo 2020's plans to host a safe and secure

Games," the IOC said.

February 25

The IOC's longest-serving member, Dick Pound, says in an interview

the coronavirus outbreak could lead to the cancellation of the

Olympics, and the IOC has a three-month window to decide the fate of

the 2020 Games.

February 27

IOC president Thomas Bach says the IOC is "fully committed" to the

Tokyo Olympics going ahead on schedule. Asked on possible

alternatives to holding the Olympics as scheduled, he tells Japanese

media in a conference call: "I'll not add fuel to the flames of

speculation."

March 3

Japan's Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto says the Olympics contract

allows for the Tokyo Games to be postponed within 2020 due to the

coronavirus outbreak. The Games could be delayed as long as it is

held within 2020, he says during an upper house budget committee

session. The IOC repeats its commitment to the Games and says a joint

task force was established in mid-February, involving the IOC, Tokyo

2020 organizers, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and

WHO.

March 4

IOC president Thomas Bach says he does not want to be involved in

speculation about a cancellation or postponement of the Games. Such a

scenario was not discussed in the executive meetings of the IOC in

Lausanne, Switzerland, he said. The IOC executive board "expressed

its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,

taking place from July 24 to August 9 2020."

March 6

Tokyo Games organizers scale down an arrival ceremony for the Olympic

torch and decide not to send 140 children to Greece for a torch

handover ceremony on March 19, a day before it is due to arrive in

Japan.

March 12

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike expresses concerns after WHO declares the

novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. It "could affect"

discussions over the Games and the Paralympics. But she says: "There

is no way that the Olympics will be cancelled when considering the

feelings of Japanese people and the preparations up to this point

that we have done."

- The Olympic flame for the Tokyo Games is lit in Greece in front of

a crowd restricted to 100 because of the coronavirus. The IOC says it

is confident the Games will be held as planned and remains

"absolutely in line with our Japanese hosts in our commitment to

delivering safe Olympic Games in July this year."

March 13

Preparations for the Olympics will continue on track, Japanese Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe tells US President Donald Trump, who suggested

the games be postponed.

March 16

John Coates, chairman of the IOC's coordination commission, says the

IOC "didn't recognise any dates" that long-serving IOC member Dick

Pound suggested would be a deadline for postponing the Games. "It's

all proceeding to start on the 24th of July," Australian Olympic

chief Coates told the Sydney Morning Herald.

March 17

The IOC says it is "fully committed" to holding the Tokyo Olympics

and says there is no need for "drastic decisions" now. It says "any

speculation at this moment would be counter-productive." The

statement came as the executive board of the IOC began two-day

teleconferences with athletes' representatives, national Olympic

committees and international federations on the coronavirus crisis.

March 18

The IOC responds to athletes' concerns over lack of training by

saying it is "an exceptional situation which requires exceptional

solutions." The IOC is "committed to finding a solution with the

least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the

integrity of the competition and the athletes' health. No solution

will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on

the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes," an IOC

spokesperson says.

March 21

IOC president Thomas Bach says cancelling the Games would "destroy

the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes from 206 national Olympic

committees and the IOC refugee team. Such a cancellation would be the

least fair solution." But a growing number of sports federations, led

by the powerful US athletics and swim bodies, want the Games

postponed, just as Olympic Committees from countries including Brazil

and Norway.

March 22

The IOC says it plans to decide within the next four weeks whether or

not to hold the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as planned. The IOC

executive board agrees to look at "modifying existing operational

plans for the Games to go ahead on 24 July 2020, and also for changes

to the start date of the Games" amid mounting calls for a

postponement.

March 23

Canada becomes the first country to warn that it won't send its

athletes to the Tokyo Olympics unless they are postponed for a year,

while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expresses doubts the Games

will go ahead as scheduled. "If I'm asked whether the Olympics can be

held at this moment, I would have to say the world is not in such a

condition," Abe tells parliament. World Athletics president Sebastian

Coe tells IOC president Thomas Bach in a letter that an Olympics in

July 2020 is not "feasible or desirable."

March 24

IOC president Thomas Bach agrees on a postponement of the Tokyo

Olympic by up to one year, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says

after a telephone conversation between the pair. Minutes later a

joint IOC and local organizing committee statement confirms the Games

are postponed - for the first time the 124-year history of the modern

Olympics.

dpa

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