Olympic Update – New date for 2021 released

The Olympic Games were due to be held this year, 2020, in Tokyo Japan. However due to the outbreak of Covid-19 – Coronavirus most countries are on lockdown. All sporting events across the world have been cancelled or postponed.

The new dates for the Tokyo Olympic games has been released and will start on 23rd July 2021 until 8th August 2021. The Paralympic Games have also been postponed for a year and will now take place on 24th August 2021 until 5th September 2021.

In a statement the International Olympic Committee have said that rescheduling the games to next July would keep the upheavals in the international sporting calendar to a minimum. “These new dates give the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new dates, exactly one year after those originally planned for 2020 also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum. Additionally, they will provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process. The same heat mitigation measures as planned for 2020 will be implemented.”

Some sports including swimming, triathlon and equestrian have been concerned that the July date means that the Olympics will take place during the hottest time of the Japanese summer. This has been a concern for the organisers who have already moved the Olympic marathon to Sapporo in the north of the country.

The organisers have also confirmed that tickets for this year’s Games will remain valid in 2021 but a full refund would be given to anyone who could no longer attend.