Source: www.dawn.com - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 The Tokyo Olympics were postponed on Tuesday to 2021, the first such delay in the Games’ 124-year modern history, as the coronavirus crisis wrecked the world’s last sporting showpiece still standing this year. Though a huge blow to Japan, which has invested $12 billion in the run-up, the move was a relief to thousands of athletes fretting over training as the world headed into lockdown to fight a disease that has claimed more than 16,500 lives. Officials remove the Olympic cauldron after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Flame of Recovery in Fukushima, Japan on March 24. — Reuters Pressure had been building on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president, Thomas Bach, with some athletes and sporting bodies angry that a seemingly inevitable decision had taken so long. After a call between Bach and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both said the July 24-Aug 9 Games would move to summer 2021 at the latest in a hoped-for celebration of triumph over the pandemic. The Olympic flame, already lit at Olympia in Greece and taken to Japan for a now-cancelled torch relay, would stay in the host nation as a symbol of hope. “Sport is not the most important thing right now, preserving human life is,” Bach said. “This Olympic flame will be the light at the end of this tunnel.” A 3D printed Olympics logo is seen in front of displayed "Tokyo 2021" words in this illustration. —Reuters Though it was the first Olympics’ postponement, the Games All Related
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