Canada & Australia Pull Out of 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

Amid the dangerous health ramifications currently happening across the world, Canada and Australia have both pulled out of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) announced the news in a statement, saying, “This is not solely about athlete health – it is about public health…it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and the broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these Games. In fact, it runs counter to the public health advice which we urge all Canadians to follow.”

The statement continued to urge the Olympics committee to postpone the games until 2021.

Australia followed suit, saying, “our athletes now need to prioritize their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families.”

“It’s clear the Games can’t be held in July,” Ian Chesterman, Australian Team Chef de Mission for Tokyo, added. “Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive attitude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertainty has been extremely challenging for them.”

The games are supposed to start on July 24 and wrap up on August 9.

Find out what the Olympics organizers had to say about whether or not a cancellation would be possible.