The Tokyo Olympics Are Held a Year Late in Near-Empty Venues

On 7 September 2013, the International Olympic Committee convened its 125th Session in Buenos Aires, choosing Tokyo over Istanbul by 60 votes to 36 in the final round, after Madrid had been eliminated, to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Tokyo had previously hosted the Games in 1964 and had also bid for the 2016 Olympics. Costs swelled in the years before the Games, including for the rebuilding of the National Stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies and for athletics.

The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020 abruptly derailed the established timeline. By March, Canada and Australia were refusing to take part if the Games went ahead that summer. On 24 March 2020, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee announced a formal postponement to the following year. Previous editions had been cancelled outright during the two World Wars, but this was the first postponement in the modern Games' 124-year history.