One minute read. Written by Radhey Maniramka – a grade 8 student.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo Olympics Organizers recently announced that in response to Coronavirus pandemic, The Olympic Games in Tokyo has been postponed.

Do you know that this will be the first time in the history of modern Olympics that the Games are being rescheduled? Also do you know that this is not the first time that the Games will not be held as per plan? There were previous 3 occasions when the Games were cancelled – want to know when and why, then read on.

The First Olympic Games that was cancelled was the 1916 Olympics (known as the Games of the VI Olympiad) scheduled to be held in Berlin, Germany. The German Empire constructed a brand new facility known as Deutsches Stadion to serve as the centerpiece of the games well ahead of time in the year 1913.  However, the World War I started in 1914 and due to the crisis across the world, the 1916 Olympic games were cancelled. The next Olympic Games of the year 1920 were awarded to Antwerp, Belgian to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgian people during the war. Berlin eventually hosted the 1936 Olympics, twenty years later!

The second time, Olympic Games were cancelled was in 1940 (known as Games of the XII Olympiad) scheduled to be hosted in Tokyo, Japan. In 1937, Second Sino-Japanese War started between China and Japan and in 1938, Tokyo decided to withdraw from the Olympics. The IOC decided to shift the venue of the Games to Helsinki in Finland. However, once again the war got in way as IOC decided to cancel the event due to outbreak of World War II.

The third time Olympics was cancelled was in 1944. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, London was awarded the 1944 Olympic Games (known as Games of the XIII Olympiad). Due to the ongoing World War II, the 1944 Games were cancelled. Because of the cancellation of the 1944 Olympics, London was awarded the 1948 Olympics without election.

The Tokyo Olympics have now been shifted by a year from its original date of 24th July,2020 to July 23, 2021. It was a difficult decision for the organizers and a big disappointment for the sport lovers across the globe. This is the first time the games are shifted not due a War, but isn’t the fight against Coronavirus also a global WAR? The great news is that Games have been postponed and not cancelled.

Written by Radhey Maniramka – DPS, Dubai