Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay postponed after Games shifted to next year

In light of the postponement of the Olympics Games to 2021, the Organising Committee of Tokyo 2020 has decided to postpone the Olympic Torch Relay scheduled to start on March 26.

"The Organising Committee will announce the revised dates for the Olympic Torch Relay after the new schedule for the Tokyo 2020 Games has been fixed, and renew its preparations for a vigorous Grand Start event that will bring people together again," the IOC said in a statement.

The Tokyo 2020 will consider measures to allow torchbearers who were selected to run in the now postponed event to be given priority in the selection process for the new Olympic Torch Relay.

On Tuesday, for the first time in the history of the mega global event, the Olympics were postponed by a year. The decision was confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the organising body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the Tokyo Olympics in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

"In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," the IOC said in an official statement.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9, while the Paralympic Games were scheduled to be held from August 25 to September 6.