The Chairman of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has denied they have been cancelled, but a decision would be made in March.

In an interview with Nishinippon Shimbun (via Yahoo News, translation: DeepL), Yoshiro Mori denied rumors that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, had been cancelled. Instead, the decision will be made before March 25th; when the Olympic Torch Relay will begin.

The news comes after The Times reports that the Japanese government have allegedly decided in private that they would cancel the Olympics. Citing a “senior member of the ruling coalition,” the government are now trying to save face while also securing their bid for the Olympics in 2032.

We previously reported [1, 2, 3] how there was discussion of the Olympic Games cancellation among the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) begun “detailed discussions” with Japanese officials and Olympic organizers, regarding whether the games would continue, or be postponed. Cancellation of the 32nd Olympic Games was “not on the agenda.” 

It was later announced the games would be postponed, but “not later than summer 2021.” At this time of writing, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will run from July 23rd, to August 8th. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be celebrated from August 24th, to September 5th 2021.

While wrestling will be dropped, new sports will be seen during the event. These include baseball (also known as softball in some parts of the world), karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding

The next Summer Olympics will take place in Paris in 2024, while the next Winter Games will take place in Beijing in 2022.

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Image: Olympic.org