On March 24th the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo, concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled due to safety regarding COVID-19. Not only were the athletes unable to train and the qualification events cancelled, but having the world’s biggest sporting event amids this pandemic would put the health of millions of people at risk. This decision aims to protect the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games, as well as the international community. The IOC later announced that the Tokyo 2021 Olympics will be held from July 23th through August 8th of 2021. 

Days before the announcement, on March 22nd, the Canadian Olympic Committee made public their decision not to send a Canadian Team to Tokyo 2020 unless the Olympics were postponed for at least 12 months. Later, Team Australia released a statement which said that they would not send their team to Tokyo if the games proceeded as scheduled. This put pressure on the IOC to take the measures needed and postpone the Games.

The Olympic Games have been cancelled three times since they were first held in 1896, due to World War I (1916) or World War II (1940 and 1944), but they have never been postponed. The Winter Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to take place just six months after Tokyo 2021, running from February 4th through February 20th 2022. Although for some athletes one more year of elite training can be very hard on their bodies, many have shown their support on the decision: Olympic diver Tom Daley said that “waiting one more year to reach for our dreams is well worth the sacrifice to help keep people safe.” 

Here are 7 Olympic replays worth-watching:

Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final | Rio 2016

After the qualification round, the best 7 gymnastics teams have advanced to the final. The reigning champions from London 2012, Team USA, are the heavy favorites to claim the Olympic title for the third time. They are led by house-hold names including Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.

Men’s Pole Vault Final | Rio 2016

Watch as reigning Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, from France, tries to defend his title from 4 years ago. The fight for gold gets really interesting as the American Sam Kendrick and crowd favourite, brazilian Thiago Da Silva, put on a big fight. Can the young brazilian win the Olympic title in home soil?

Swimming Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final | Rio 2016 Replay

Team USA wins gold in the men’s 4x100m medley final and sets a new Olympic Record in Michael Phelps’ final race at the Olympic Games.

Women’s 400m Final | Rio 2016

Shaunae Miller wins gold for the Bahamas in the women’s 400m race after narrowly beating USA’s Allyson Felix by diving across the finish line.

Here are some Winter Games events:

Figure Skating – Ice Dancing – Free Dance | PyeongChang 2018

Heading into the final day of competition, 2010 Olympic Champions and 2014 Silver Medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada lead the standings. Here, the pairs wilI skate their final dance; the Free Dance. The veterans will face tough competition from the French and Americans to determine the Olympic Champions for Ice Dance.

(Skip to the last part to see the top skaters)

timestamps:

2:41:00 USA Maia Shbutani & Alex Shibutani

2:49:20 FRANCE Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron

2:57:30 USA  Madison Humbbell & Zachary Donohue

3:05:35 CANADA Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir

Women’s Figure Skating Short Program | PyeongChang 2018

The Short Program is the first of two skates to determine the Ladies Single Figure Skating champion. This jam-packed field includes heavy favourite Evgenia Medvedeva from Russia who won the World and European Championships in 2016 and 2017. However, new-comer and fellow Russian, 15-year-old Alina Zagitova has not come to play! 

(Skip to the last part to see the top skaters)

timestamps:

3:26:30 RUSSIA Evgenia Medvedeva

3:39:30 CANADA Kaetlyn Osmond

3:46:00 RUSSIA Alina Zagitova

3:52:50 ITALY Carolina Kostner 

• To watch the second and final day of competition (the Free Skate) head over to Olympic Channel: Olympic Sports, Athletes, Videos & More

USA v Canada – Women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal Match | PyeongChang 2018

Coming into this match: Canada has won four gold medals and one silver medal in women’s ice hockey. The U.S. has won one gold medal, three silver medals and one bronze medal. These experienced teams go head to head in the Women’s Ice Hockey final.

For more events visit: https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/

Feautured Image: https://pin.it/6osWiyN