North Korea has announced it will skip the Tokyo Olympics this year, saying the decision is to protect its athletes from Covid-19.
Pyongyang’s decision puts an end to South Korea’s hopes of using the Games to engage with the North amid stalled cross-border talks.
In 2018, North and South Korea entered a joint team at the Winter Olympics which led to a series of historic summits.
North Korea says it has no cases of the virus but experts say this is unlikely.
The announcement makes North Korea the first major country to skip the delayed 2020 Games because of the pandemic. The event is due to begin on 23 July.
This will be the first time North Korea has missed a Summer Olympics since 1988, when it boycotted the Seoul Games during the Cold War.
According to a report by the state-run site Sports in the DPRK, the decision was made at an Olympic committee meeting on March 25.
North Korea has taken stringent measures against the coronavirus since it broke out last year.
It shut its borders in late January and later quarantined hundreds of foreigners in its capital.
Since early 2020, trains and wagons have been forbidden to enter or leave North Korea, with most international passenger flights stopped as well.
There were hopes from South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in that the Games could be a catalyst for progress between both Koreas.
That had been the case in 2018, when North Korea sent 22 athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, along with government officials, journalists and a 230-member cheering group.
Among the contingent was North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong – a move which helped it initiate diplomacy with South Korea and the US.
The talks that followed led to a series of historic, high-profile meetings between Kim Jong-un and former President Donald Trump.
There were hopes for improved relations after the meetings, but nothing materialized and the atmosphere has since deteriorated.
Meanwhile, in Japan, an Olympic preparatory event was canceled after Covid infections broke out at a training camp for the Japanese water polo team – with seven people testing positive for the virus.
It follows the announcement that the Osaka leg of the Olympic torch relay will be canceled after infections in the city hit record highs.
There have been growing concerns in Japan that more infectious strains of the virus could be driving a potential fourth Covid-19 wave in the country.
The IOC has decided that the Tokyo Olympic
Games will start on July 23, 2021 and run to August 8 after being postponed for
a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 30, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board met to
make the decision.
The Olympics will still be called Tokyo 2020 despite taking place in 2021.
The Paralympic Games, originally due to start on August 24, 2020, will now
take place between August 24 and September 5, 2021.
IOC president Thomas Bach said: “I
am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government and all our
stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge.
“Humankind currently finds itself
in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of
this tunnel.”
The decision to postpone both events was taken to protect the health of the
athletes and everyone involved, and to support the containment of the new coronavirus.
The new dates also took into consideration the rest of the global sports calendar
after the men’s soccer European Championship was postponed to the summer of
2021.
The World Athletics Championships, originally set to take place in Oregon,
USA, between August 6 and August 15, 2021, will now be postponed until 2022.
Olympic organizers hope the delay will allow sufficient time to finish the
qualification process which will follow the same mitigation measures planned
for 2020.
It has previously been confirmed that all athletes already qualified and
quota places already assigned will remain unchanged.
Purchased tickets would be valid for rescheduled events or a refund could be
requested when the new dates were set, organizers previously confirmed.
On March 24, Japan’s PM Abe Shinzo said the Games would be held in their
“complete form” and no later than summer 2021.
Tokyo 2020 organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said he had proposed
the July 23 to August 8 timeframe to the IOC, and that Thomas Bach had agreed,
following consultations with the international sports federations.
It is the first time in the Olympic Games’ 124-year modern history that they have been delayed, though they were cancelled altogether in 1916 because of World War One and again in 1940 and 1944 for World War Two. Cold War boycotts affected the summer Games in Moscow and Los Angeles in 1980 and 1984 respectively.
“On Monday, the director general
of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the Covid-19
pandemic is ‘accelerating’.
“There are more than 375,000
cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is
growing by the hour.
“In the present circumstances and
based on the information provided by the WHO today [Tuesday], the IOC president
and the prime minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII
Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than
summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the
Olympic Games and the international community.”
The IOC had given itself a deadline of four weeks to consider delaying the
Games but there had been mounting pressure from a host of Olympic committees
and athletes demanding a quicker decision.
On March 22, Canada became the first major country to withdraw from both
events, while USA Track and Field, athletics’ US governing body, had also
called for a postponement.
International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said the
postponement was “the only logical option”.
Andrew Parsons added: “The health
and wellbeing of human life must always be our number-one priority and staging
a sporting event of any kind during this pandemic is simply not possible.
“Sport is not the most important
thing right now, preserving human life is. It is essential, therefore, that all
steps are taken to try to limit the spread of this disease.
“By taking this decision now, everyone
involved in the Paralympic movement, including all Para-athletes, can fully
focus on their own health and wellbeing and staying safe during this
unprecedented and difficult time.”
The Olympics have never been delayed in their 124-year modern history,
though they were canceled altogether in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during World War
One and World War Two.
Major Cold War boycotts disrupted the Moscow and Los Angeles summer Games in
1980 and 1984.
The Tokyo 2020-IOC joint statement continued: “The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present.
“Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.”
The Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead as
planned in July, despite coronavirus concerns resulting in the postponement of
sporting events, Japan PM Shinzo Abe said.
The prime minister added the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would
have the final decision whether Tokyo 2020 goes ahead.
He said: “We will overcome the
spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned.”
Japan has had more than 1,400 cases and 28 deaths resulting from
coronavirus.
According to organizers, the Tokyo Games is expected to cost about 1.35
trillion yen.
The Japan section of the Olympic Torch relay is due to start in Fukushima on
March 26. The recent torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia was held
without spectators, before the rest of the relay in Greece was suspended to
avoid attracting crowds.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said:
“We’re taking thorough infection measures with regards to the torch relay
domestically.”
Several Olympic trials events in the US have been postponed, including wrestling, rowing and diving.
The Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead as
planned in July, despite coronavirus concerns resulting in the postponement of
sporting events, Japan PM Shinzo Abe said.
The prime minister added the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would
have the final decision whether Tokyo 2020 goes ahead.
He said: “We will overcome the
spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned.”
Japan has had more than 1,400 cases and 28 deaths resulting from
coronavirus.
According to organizers, the Tokyo Games is expected to cost about 1.35
trillion yen.
The Japan section of the Olympic Torch relay is due to start in Fukushima on
March 26. The recent torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia was held
without spectators, before the rest of the relay in Greece was suspended to
avoid attracting crowds.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said:
“We’re taking thorough infection measures with regards to the torch relay
domestically.”
Several Olympic trials events in the US have been postponed, including
wrestling, rowing and diving.
Hakubun Shimomura, the Japanese sports minister, has resigned over canceled plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s original design was ditched in July as estimated building costs almost doubled, reaching $2 billion.
Hakubun Shimomura said he had been asked to stay on until a planned cabinet reshuffle, but would repay some salary.
A new stadium design is due to be chosen by November.
Concerns have already been raised about whether that design will be completed in time for 2020 – the first time Tokyo has hosted the Summer Games since 1964.
As well as objections to its ballooning cost, Zaha Hadid’s design was criticized by some in Tokyo for its similarly huge size and its unusual shape.
A close ally of conservative PM Shinzo Abe, Hakubun Shimomura runs the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which is in charge of overseeing the Olympic Games.
Speaking at a press conference at his ministry following a meeting with the prime minister, Hakubun Shimomura said he told Shinzo Abe he wanted to take responsibility for the stadium problems.
“It is true that this has caused much concern and inconvenience,” he said.
Hakubun Shimomura added that he had first heard of the inflating costs and delays in April, “which is why I have decided to return the six months’ worth of pay I have received from that day onwards”.
His offer to quit came after an independent investigation into the fiasco.
Local reports said the panel pinned responsibility on the government body overseeing the project, the Japan Sports Council, and Hakubun Shimomura’s ministry. Former PM Yoshiro Mori, president of Tokyo’s organizing committee, was also blamed.
Plans to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup have also been thrown into doubt by the cancelation of Zaha Hadid’s original plans, as organizers now have to find an alternative final venue.
Olympic organizers are also looking for a new logo, after a Belgian artist complained that a logo he designed for a theater had been copied.
Those allegations have been denied by both Olympic organizers and the Japanese logo designer himself but he admitted his team did copy other work in the past, and the Tokyo Games committee said too many doubts had been raised for it to be used.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games logo has been scrapped after allegations that it was plagiarized.
The Games organizing committee said there were too many doubts over the emblem for it to be used.
Logo designer Kenjiro Sano admitted copying online material when questioned by organizers, Japanese media reported.
Photo Reuters
A Belgian artist had complained that his design was stolen.
In July Japan also scrapped a controversial design for the new Olympic stadium.
“We have reached a conclusion that it would be only appropriate for us to drop the logo and develop a new emblem,” Toshio Muto, director general of the Tokyo organizing committee, told a news conference.
“At this point, we have decided that the logo cannot gain public support.”
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