Olympic postponement will upend other major events

The expected yet stunning decision Tuesday to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics because of COVID-19 could have a ripple effect on other major events, most notably the world championships for track and swimming.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to set a new date for the Tokyo Games other than “not later than summer 2021,” the revised calendar undoubtedly will heavily impact two of the event's biggest sports.

The 2021 World Athletics Championships are scheduled for next summer in Eugene, Oregon, which is constructing a new stadium that will seat 30,000 on the site of historic Hayward Field. The next World Aquatics Championships are set for roughly the same time in Fukuoka, Japan.

Now, it's all about the timing.

The track worlds are scheduled for Aug. 6-15, which obviously won't work if the Tokyo Olympics are pushed back a full year to roughly the same spot on the calendar as this year's games — July 24-August 9.

If the Olympics are held in April or May, an idea that seems to be under serious consideration, the track worlds could press forward with their plans.

Swimming also holds its biggest event outside the Olympics in odd-numbered years.

The 2021 Aquatics Championships — which in addition to swimming also include diving, water polo, artistic swimming, open-water swimming and the non-Olympic sport of high diving — are set for July 16-Aug. 1 in Fukuoka, which is about 675 miles (1,088 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo on the island of Kyushu.

Again, that timing won't work if the Olympics are shifted to the summer of 2021.

But Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of world governing body FINA, said there is no chance of the next worlds being bumped back to 2022.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” he defiantly told The Associated Press by phone.

The other member of the Olympics' Big Three is gymnastics, which stages its world championships every non-Olympic year.

The 2021 event is set for Copenhagen, Denmark, but not until Oct. 18-24, so it shouldn't be directly affected by the Olympic postponement. Training schedules and other competitions would have to be altered, however.

The world governing body said it will do "everything necessary to adapt its events calendar to fit the new dates" of the Olympics. – AP