WHY ARE THE OLYMPICS NOT BEING HELD IN 2020?

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Originally due to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the event retains the "Tokyo 2020" name for marketing and branding purposes. This is the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled.

Tokyo was selected during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013, marking the second time Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, the first being in 1964, and making it the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics twice. These will be the fourth Olympic Games held in Japan, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano). It will be the second of three consecutive Olympics held in East Asia, the first in Pyeongchang County, South Korea in 2018, and the next in Beijing, China in 2022.

The 2020 Games will see the introduction of new competitions including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and madison cycling, as well as further mixed events. Under new IOC policies, which allow the host organizing committee to add new sports to the Olympic programme to augment the permanent core events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, as well as the return of baseball and softball for the first time since 2008.