The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is expecting the Tokyo Olympic Games to be postponed to next year.
The AOC told Australian athletes to prepare for the games to be hosted in the northern summer of 2021, as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic.
During a teleconference this morning, the body agreed it would not be able to assemble an Australian team. The news comes after the International Olympics Committee (IOC) said the games could potentially be postponed due to the pandemic.
AOC chief executive Matt Carroll says athletes need to prioritise their health.
“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,” Carroll says.
“The IOC had adopted the key principles of putting athlete health first and ensuring it acted in their best interests and the interests of sport. This decision reflects those principles.
“We are now in a position where we can plan with greater certainty.”
Seven, which has the rights for the Olympics, declined to comment.
The news comes after Canada said it won’t participate in the games unless they are delayed.
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