It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.' 'Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. 'The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present,' Bach and Abe added. However, it was decided that the health of everyone involved was paramount. It was the hope that the Olympics could still be held as a distraction for what is going on in the world in terms of the COVID-19 outbreak. 'In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,' a joint statement from Bach and Prime Minister Abe read.

The three other times the games had to be pushed back were due to World War I and World War II. This marks only the fourth time in the history of the modern Olympics (which dates back to 1896), that the Games are being postponed.

The decision came after multiple conversations between Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC president Thomas Bach. Japan and the International Olympic Committee agreed on Tuesday to push the games to 2021. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will have to wait.

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