Tokyo 2020 Q&A: The ramifications of moving the Olympics to next year
The Games will start on July 23, 2021 instead of July 24, 2020.
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have been re-arranged to take place in July and August next year.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what the decision will mean for the city, the athletes, and the enormous financial and logistical implications on the sporting calendar.
Why next summer?
Once they clarified that the Games would take place in 2021, organisers effectively had three options – a risky re-staging in the Japanese spring, by which the coronavirus crisis is far from guaranteed to be over; what is ostensibly a straight shift-back of a year; or a longer delay until the cooler Japanese autumn. While spring might have appealed it was hardly practical, while a September or winter Games would have had bigger broadcasting implications. A 12-month roll-back always seemed to be the sensible option.
What impact will it have on athletes?
What about the impact on other events scheduled for 2021?
What are the financial and logistical consequences of the delay?
