Olympics official: One- or two-year delay ‘most feasible’ option if 2020 Games are postponed

A member of the organizing body for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo said on Wednesday that a one- or two-year delay would be the “most feasible” option if Japan’s capital is unable to host the games this summer due to the global coronavirus outbreak. 

Haruyuki Takahashi, one of more than two dozen people on the Tokyo 2020 executive board, told Reuters that holding the Olympics without fans would result in an unacceptable financial loss and that pushing the games back to later this year would conflict with other sporting events.

“We need to start preparing for any possibility. If the Games can’t be held in the summer, a delay of one or two years would be most feasible,” Takahashi told the news service.

The executive board and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, have remained steadfast in their commitment to go forward with the 2020 Games, which are slated to start in July. 

“We sought clarification from Mr. Takahashi; he stated he had inadvertently given his personal opinion in response to a hypothetical question,” the executive board said in a statement.

“As IOC President [Thomas Bach] stated the other day, neither the IOC nor the organising committee are considering postponing or cancelling the Tokyo 2020 Games, and we are proceeding with our preparations for a safe and secure Games opening on July 24, 2020, as planned,” the board continued.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide, including more than 500 people in Japan. In the U.S., there have been more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the illness and 29 related deaths.