Back to the Olympics Newsfeed

Opinion: Coronavirus already creating chaos for Tokyo Olympics

The speculation about this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games is coming fast and furious now. Across just a few hours on Tuesday, Japan’s Olympics minister said the coronavirus outbreak could lead to the postponement of the Games this summer, while the International Olympic Committee answered by saying it remains committed to staging the Games as scheduled July 24 to August 9.

Who knows what Wednesday will bring.

This kind of confusion should come as absolutely no surprise. The story of the coronavirus is both ominous and fast-changing. It was just last week that veteran IOC member Dick Pound told the Associated Press that if it proved too dangerous to hold the Tokyo Olympics, organizers were more likely to cancel the Games than postpone or move them.