A pedestrian wearing mask walking past the Olympic rings in Tokyo, Japan
The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until August 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to plan and prepare for them properly this year.
The Games were postponed last week — the first such delay in the 124-year history of the Olympics. The move was a huge blow for Japan, which invested US$13 billion in the run-up to the event and raised US$3 billion from domestic sponsors.
A theme park worker wearing a protective face mask following an outbreak of the coronavirus cleans a giant swing at the theme park at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan
Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, confirmed the new dates after he made the decision with the International Olympic Committee. Mori said the Paralympic Games would run from August 24 to September 5.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were due to open on July 24 this year and run for 16 days, but the pandemic forced the first postponement of the Games.