Tech-heavy Tokyo Olympics have been pushed back to 2021

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have officially been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and the Prime Minster of Japan, Abe Shinzo, on Tuesday concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but no later than the summer of 2021. It's a major setback for organizers, athletes, fans and the tech community as a whole.

From the moment the 2016 Rio games ended, it was clear that Tokyo was setting the stage to showcase its culture and prominence within the tech industry. During the closing ceremony, the Prime Minister emerged out of a warp pipe dressed as Mario, ready to accept the games from Rio.

In the nearly four years that have since elapsed, we learned that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic medals would be made of recycled electronics and that both flying cars and robots would help guests in a major way. Intel had been tapped to provide live data overlays during sprinting events and at one point, it was even rumored that the opening ceremony would feature a man-made meteor shower.

Unfortunately, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic gave organizers no choice but to postpone the event.

Worth noting is the fact that the Olympic flame will remain in Japan and that the Games will retain the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Masthead credit: Chaay_Tee, body credit: KirillS

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https://www.techspot.com/news/84521-tech-heavy-tokyo-olympics-have-pushed-back-2021.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

The Japanese did the right thing. Better to push the games back than risk mass infection.

 

[TomSEA]

No surprise. The Swimming and Track & Field Federations were pushing hard for postponement. Those two groups would have more than likely boycotted, had they held it this year.

 

[Capaill]

The Japanese did the right thing. Better to push the games back than risk mass infection.

It's not just the risk of spreading the disease. Nation's teams are not able to train together. Most training facilities are closed. Some countries that don't yet have the virus would be at a much greater advantage in terms of time spent training than countries which are in lockdown.
Also athletes and their families didn't know if they should spend money on flights and hotel accommodation that might get cancelled later on.
There was no way the Olympics were going to be held this Summer, they should have been postponed 2 weeks ago.
Japan wanted to save face and pretend that they could handle it within their country. But it was never about Japan, it's about the athletes.

 

[Gotit4cheap16]

Nobody will miss it for the time being.

 

[Markoni35]

Let's just hope that corona disappears by summer, otherwise it will stretch into 2021 and we'll see the worst economic crisis of all times. Anyone who said "guns should be banned" will be buying guns themselves, for protection.

 

[Stiqy]

It's not just the risk of spreading the disease. Nation's teams are not able to train together. Most training facilities are closed. Some countries that don't yet have the virus would be at a much greater advantage in terms of time spent training than countries which are in lockdown.
Also athletes and their families didn't know if they should spend money on flights and hotel accommodation that might get cancelled later on.
There was no way the Olympics were going to be held this Summer, they should have been postponed 2 weeks ago.
Japan wanted to save face and pretend that they could handle it within their country. But it was never about Japan, it's about the athletes.

probably also got to the point sponsors wouldn't touch it either. So much bad will around running it that sponsors that supported the games would get the backlash too. It was just a lose lose lose scenario. And once the money is gone, there is zero reason for these guys to keep going.