Postponed Olympics set for July 23 2021 start

“Additionally, they will provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process. The same heat mitigation measures as planned for 2020 will be implemented.”

The Executive Board of the Organisers of Tokyo 2020 met on Monday and announced the required number of volunteers had been reached, and will now be asking those who have confirmed their roles if they would participate in the rescheduled Games.

Torchbearers who were confirmed for the postponed Torch Relay will also be given priority selection for next year’s Olympic Torch Relay.

Organisers are working on measures to ensure purchased tickets will be valid for corresponding rescheduled events next year and that face value refunds are given to ticket holders who cannot attend events in 2021.

In addition, the organisers have announced all 18 Olympic Test events from April 2020 onwards are postponed.

World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe has suggested the 2021 World Championships could be delayed by a year to accommodate the Tokyo Games.

The next Athletics World Championships are scheduled to take place in Eugene, Oregon in August 2021 but Coe says the event may need be moved to avoid clashing with the Olympics.

“At this stage, it’s fair to say nothing is on the table, nothing is off the table,” he said.

“We have already had good discussions with Oregon and what I can report is Oregon are very clear that they will do whatever they can to help in our deliberations on this.

“No hard and fast decisions have been made. It may well be that one of the options is to move into 2022, but that’s where our discussions are now taking place.”