After the teleconference call between International Olympics Committee ( IOC) president Thomas Bach and Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto in the Japanese capital today. The new date has been confirmed.
The new date for the Olympics will begin on July 23 and run to August 8 while the Paralympics Games will take place from August 24 to September 5.
The original schedule for both Games now looks set to shift one day, following confirmation of the new dates.
“IOC President Thomas Bach and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee held a conference call today to discuss in detail the revised dates of the Tokyo 2020 Games,” said Mori. “Minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Hashimoto Seiko and Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko joined the call.”.
“I proposed that the Games should be hosted between July and August 2021, and I really appreciate that President Bach, having discussed this proposal with the various international sports federations and other related organisations, kindly accepted my proposal”.
“A certain amount of time is required for the selection and qualification of athletes and for their training and preparation, and the consensus was that staging the rescheduled Games during the summer vacation in Japan would be preferable.
“In terms of transport, arranging volunteers and the provision of tickets for those in Japan and overseas, as well as allowing —to reschedule the Games to one year later than planned, in the summer of 2021”.
“Notwithstanding the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the first time in history, and various other issues that have already been highlighted, the event schedule is the cornerstone of future preparations, and I am convinced that taking this decision promptly will help speed up future preparations”.
“I would like to thank all the stakeholders, including the host city Tokyo and the Government of Japan, for their hard work during this short period”.
“The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will continue to work hard for the success of next year’s Games”, he added.
“I want to thank the International Federations for their unanimous support and the Continental Associations of National Olympic Committees for the great partnership and their support in the consultation process over the last few days,” Bach said.
“I would also like to thank the IOC Athletes’ Commission, with whom we have been in constant contact”.
“With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge”. “Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel”.
