Australian athletes told to prepare for possible delayed Olympics

The Australia Olympic Committee on Monday said that the country's athletes should prepare for the Olympics in the northern hemisphere's 2021 summer.

The move comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) statement that a final decision on possible postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the wake of coronavirus will be made in four weeks.

"Australian athletes should prepare for a Tokyo Olympic Games in the northern summer of 2021," the AOC said in a statement.

Earlier, the Canadian Olympic Committee said that the athletes will not attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020.

AOC Chief Executive Matt Carroll said that athletes needed certainty they wanted to do the right thing for themselves, their families and the world community.

"We have athletes based overseas, training at central locations around Australia as teams and managing their own programs. With travel and other restrictions this becomes an untenable situation," said Carroll.

The Tokyo Olympic Games are slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.