The International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the government of Japan Monday officially announced the new dates for the games of the Xxxii Olympiad, in 2021.

It was also agreed that the new dates for the Paralympic Games will be from August 24 until September 5, 2021.

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It is understood the leadership of the key parties came together via telephone conference earlier today, joined by IOC President Thomas Bach, Tokyo 2020 President Mori Yoshirō, Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko and Olympic and Paralympic Minister Hashimoto Seiko, and agreed on the new schedule.

Following Monday’s decision, the IOC President said, “I want to thank the International Federations for their unanimous support and the Continental Associations of National Olympic Committees for the great partnership and their support in the consultation process over the last few days.

“I would also like to thank the IOC Athletes’ Commission, with whom we have been in constant contact. With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge.

Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel.

These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.”

On his part, the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, Mori Yoshirō, said: “I proposed that the Games should be hosted between July and August 2021, and I really appreciate that President Bach, having discussed this proposal with the various international sports federations and other related organisations kindly accepted my proposal.

He added, “I would like to thank all the stakeholders, including the host city Tokyo and the Government of Japan, for their hard work during this short period.

“The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will continue to work hard for the success of next year’s Games.”

The announcement of a new date for the Olympic Games was initially expected in April after the three-week timeline set.

However, with a united voice from all parties involved, a new date has been fixed earlier than thought and the countdown effectively underway.