Tokyo To Skip One-Year Olympic Countdown Over Coronavirus

Tokyo will scrap events marking a year to go until the postponed 2020 Olympic Games, organisers said Friday, citing the "current economic situation" caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Games have been pushed back until July 23, 2021 because of the disease outbreak, though it remains unclear whether even that delay will be sufficient. Last year, the city and organisers held a series of events to mark the one-year countdown, including unveiling the newly designed medals.

But given the global crisis, organisers ruled out a similar celebration.

"In view of the current economic situation, Tokyo 2020 will not be holding any events to mark the new one year to go milestone for the Games," the organisers said.

The confirmation came after reports in the Japanese media that organisers would scrap the event, fearing it was inappropriate given the global pandemic and the ongoing risk of infection inside Japan.