TOKYO, Japan — Tokyo Olympic organizers are leaning away from starting the rescheduled games in the spring of 2021. More and more the signs point toward the summer of 2021.
Organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori suggested to local television there may be no major change from 2020. Japanese news agency Kyodo reported Mori saying on Saturday that “the games are meant to be in summer, so we should be thinking of a time between June and September.”
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, after the postponement was announced in Switzerland on Tuesday, left open the possibility of spring dates.
The postponed games were to have opened on July 24 and closed on Aug. 9. Mori suggested some decisions could be made as early as this week when the organizing committee's executive board meets.
Any final decision will be made by local organizers and the IOC, and hundreds of sponsors, sports federations and broadcasters.
In other news related to the coronavirus pandemic:
--Visa has told its global roster of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls their sponsorships will be extended into 2021 after the Tokyo Games were postponed. The credit card giant's Team Visa scheme features 96 athletes across 27 sports. They include soccer star Megan Rapinoe, Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles and 800-meter Olympic champion David Rudisha. Visa had already filmed some promotional campaigns with athletes for the Tokyo Games that will require some reworking.
--The executive chairman of Madison Square Garden Company and owner of the New York Knicks has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Knicks announced James Dolan’s diagnosis Saturday night, saying he has been in self-isolation and is experiencing little to no symptoms. Dolan is the first U.S. major pro sports owner known to have tested positive for the virus.
--Former All-Star outfielder Jim Edmonds announced on his Instagram page that he went to the hospital to be tested for the coronavirus after displaying some symptoms. The 49-year-old Edmonds sent a video update Saturday night on his Instagram Story saying he was back home after testing positive for pneumonia for the first time in his life, but was awaiting results of tests for the coronavirus.
--IndyCar debuted its iRacing league Saturday with a virtual race won by Sage Karam. The field included NASCAR seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who is tuning his skills for a possible run at some real IndyCar racing. For now, the professional leagues have turned to simulated esports and IndyCar staged its first event on a virtual version of Watkins Glen in New York. The race had many of the series' top names and was streamed on YouTube by both IndyCar and iRacing. The race was IndyCar's attempt to give fans content since sports have been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
--The Spanish league says more than 665,000 euros ($740,000) has been raised for the fight against the coronavirus outbreak with the help of athletes and musicians in Spain. The final tally was announced a day after the athletes and musicians took part in a four-hour online global music festival organized by the league to help purchase medical supplies and support fans confined to their homes.
--Italy’s sports minister is planning to extend the ban on games and competitions in the country through all of April. The current nationwide lockdown is due to expire on Friday but Italian health experts have said the need to try to contain COVID-19 will likely last weeks beyond that.
