Olympic teams and athletes want the 2020 games postponed

Olympic teams and athletes want the 2020 games postponed

Olympic teams and athletes have said that they want the 2020 Olympics to be postponed in light of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands of people across the world.

USA Gymnastics, USA Swimming, and USA Track and Field all issued statements saying the teams want to postpone the 2020 games and a majority of Olympic athletes who responded to a survey agree.

The 2020 Olympic games are scheduled to kick off July 24 in Tokyo.

But due to the international health crisis, many athletes who responded to a survey sent by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said they can't safely train and would support a postponement of the event.

The survey was sent to approximately 4,000 US athlete hopefuls for the Olympic and Paralympic games. More than 1,700 athletes responded, the USOPC said in a statement Monday. Nearly 65% of athletes reported their training was severely impacted or they couldn't train at all, the statement said. 25% said they could not train at all.

93% of athletes who responded to the survey said they would prefer to postpone the games over canceling them while 7% said they would rather the games be canceled and compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, according to the statement.