BLOG:  Will the 2020 Summer Olympics happen?

By Rick Worthington

3/4/2020

It is less than 150 days until Tokyo 2020’s opening ceremony and as the landmark approaches there is mounting speculation on how and whether the Olympics will be affected by the growing coronavirus threat.

Athletes say it would be “heartbreaking” for them and for Japan if the Games were affected, or even postponed due to coronavirus. Last year, Tokyo Olympic organizers said they were spending 1.35 trillion Japanese yen ($12.6 billion) to stage the Olympics, though respected Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei has estimated overall spending at 3 trillion yen ($28 billion).

Japan’s minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Seiko Hashimoto, said that the “Games could be postponed until later this year.”

What does than mean exactly? Well, the contract to hold the Tokyo Games only specifies the event has to be held during 2020. That implies the Olympics could be held later in the year and would not have to start on July 24 as planned.

However, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board in Switzerland is not sharing the same message. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a briefing, “We are going to have the games on the 24th of July.”

Your guess is as good as mine, but if you were planning on flying to Japan to watch the games…stay tuned.