One Year Until Climbing is in the Olympics, Again
The official start date of the 2020 Olympics is July 23, 2021
If things go to plan, climbing will make its Olympic debut in one year, but it might be too soon to celebrate. The Tokyo Games were meant to start today, but due to the covid-19 pandemic they’ve been pushed back to July 23, 2021.
Olympic-qualified comp climbers from around the world will be waiting anxiously this year to find out whether they’ll be able to compete, or if they’ll have to re-qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics produced a 15-minute event on Thursday at the national stadium to promote next year’s 2020/2021 Olympics. The Olympic flame arrived in Japan in March but has been hidden from the public.
The Japanese news agency Kyodo published results from a survey and it showed people’s hesitation about whether the Olympics should take place. The poll showed 23.9 per cent favoured holding the Olympics, while 36.4 per cent said the Olympics should be postponed again, and 33.7 per cent said it should be cancelled.
The International Olympic Committee has ruled out another postponement, saying the Games would be cancelled if not held next year. “I don’t think that people have a sense of anticipation in a happy way to celebrate a one-year-to-go event,” Yoshiro Mori, the president of the organizing committee, said last week.
Our fingers are crossed that the Olympics will be held in 2021 and that one year from today we’re all watching Canadians Sean McColl and Alannah Yip take the world stage.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
