UPDATE AS OF MARCH 30, 2020: The rescheduled date for the opening ceremony has been announced for July 23, 2021. This means the closing ceremony will take place on August 8. The Paralympics have been rescheduled to take place from August 24 through September 5.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics will now be postponed until next summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympics will still take place in Tokyo, 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,” explained the IOC in a statement. “Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan.” 

The exact date is undetermined but will be no later than summer of 2021. This is an especially big deal because the Olympics have never been postponed to another year. World War I and II have cancelled the competitive world event, but prior to now, the Olympics have never been rescheduled.