The coronavirus pandemic has "prompted Olympic leaders to postpone" the '22 Youth Olympics by four years, "raising questions about whether next summer's date for the Tokyo Games also might be pushed further back," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. With the coronavirus "surging in parts of the world, especially the U.S., there has been widespread concern about holding the Tokyo Games next summer." Recent polls have "shown the Japanese people remain skeptical about welcoming thousands of athletes, officials and fans to their country." IOC President Thomas Bach said that the decision to postpone the '22 Youth Olympics in Senegal was "more about logistics than public health." There was "danger of a logjam, with Tokyo in 2021, the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 and the Paris Summer Olympics and Winter Youth Games in 2024." Bach said fitting the Dakar Games into '22 "really was too heavy a workload for everybody." Meanwhile, Wharton notes officials "continue to insist that the Tokyo Games can take place as planned next July." Visiting national teams "might be asked to isolate beforehand, but it appears that holding the Games without fans remains a non-starter for the IOC and Japanese organizers" (L.A. TIMES, 7/16).
