The quadrennial showpiece, scheduled from July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo, was postponed to no later than summer of 2021 after a telephonic conversation between Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach on Tuesday.
After weeks of discussion and contemplation, the organisers of the summer Games decided to shift the Olympics by a year, hence relieving the athletes of training amid these tough times.
The International Olympic Committee made the decision after having a word with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organisers on Tuesday, albeit they insisted that the Games will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday announced the postponement of the 2020 Games, scheduled for July-August, to no later than the summer of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic which has brought the world to a standstill.
The 2020 Olympics was scheduled to begin from July 24 onwards
Canada and Australia have already made it clear that they will not be sending their teams for the Olympics due to the worsening pandemic, which has so far killed 16,000 people and infected close to 4,00,000 globally.
Pound, who is a Canadian and has been a key member of the IOC for decades, reckons that the committee will announce the steps soon.
Canada have decided not to send their team for Tokyo Olympics if the Games are held as per the schedule.
The change in strategy followed IOC president Thomas Bach leading a telephone conference call with executive board members.
The global sporting calendar has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the IOC has insisted the Tokyo Games will go ahead in four months despite growing calls for a postponement.
Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi said the International Olympic Committee was "risking our health".
The 24-year-old Dutee was to train and take part in Olympic qualifying events in Germany from March 2 but despite getting the visa and sponsorship, she could not make it there as Europe has now turned into an epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
The 21-year-old from Uttar Pradesh played on par with his experienced teammates during his dream debut against World Champions Belgium at the FIH Hockey Pro League in February.
At the end of the first of a series of meetings being held this week with athletes and Olympic committees, the IOC conceded the lead-up to Tokyo was anything but business as usual.
The Tokyo 2020 qualification process has already been hard hit due to a number of events being postponed.
Dick Pound, a former IOC vice president, said last month that the end of May loomed as a possible deadline for the IOC to make a call on the Tokyo Olympics.
The committee said the accreditation cards that had been issued for Thursday's ceremony at the stadium in Athens where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 would not be valid.
The rapid rise in coronavirus threat across the world had led to sports associations and federations to suspend or postpone a number of sporting events.
Standing in front of the ruined Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia, a Greek actress playing the part of a pagan priestess used a concave mirror to focus the sun's rays on a silver torch, causing fire to spurt forth.
Harbinder is mighty impressed with the way both the men's and the women's team performed in 2019 and is now hoping that they continue with that and win a medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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