The International Olympic Committee has decided to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games because of the coronavirus pandemic, IOC member Dick Pound said on Monday, as a window slowly began to open that would allow the showcase to be staged next year.
Major sporting nations Australia and Canada had already withdrawn on Monday as organizers came under global pressure to postpone the event for the first time in its 124-year modern history.
"On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," Pound said in newspaper USA Today. "The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know."