2021 Olympic Games

Olympics Will Be Postponed Says Former IOC Vice President Pound

Olympics Will Be Postponed Says Former IOC Vice President Pound

Dick Pound says that the 2020 Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021.

Mar 23, 2020 by Lincoln Shryack
25. Pressure Mounts To Postpone Olympics

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While the IOC is not ready yet to make a formal declaration on the status of the 2020 Olympic Games, former IOC vice president Dick Pound is, as the 77-year-old told USA Today that the Tokyo event will, in fact, be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know,” Pound told USA Today’s Christine Brennan.

Pound is a familiar name in athletics as he was the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and most recently, was a part of the commission that detailed Russia’s state-sponsored doping program.

On Monday, Pound said that dates for a rescheduled Olympic Games have yet to be finalized, but should be sorted out in the next four weeks. The event is likely to be contested in 2021 according to Pound, however.

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee announced that they would take the next four weeks to decide whether to postpone or contest the games as planned. Individual countries and governing bodies have urged the IOC to postpone the event, with Canada going so far as to say they will not have athletes in Tokyo even if the Olympics go on as scheduled this summer. 

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