Seeing the writing on the wall, the International Olympic and Paralympic Committee, along with the Japanese Government, have agreed to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympic Games because of the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

This decision came Tuesday, just a day after the USOC had published an athlete survey showing strong support for postponing (but not canceling) the Olympics, and also showing that almost two-thirds of American athletes have either been unable to train, or had their training severely impacted.

USOC Polls Athletes On What To Do About The Summer Games

The IOC President Thomas Bach and Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, released a short statement which said, in part:

"unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is "accelerating". There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

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."

World Rugby released a statement following the news, saying:

"World Rugby supports the prudent and necessary decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee to postpone the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The health and safety of the athletes, fans, and everyone involved is our shared priority and responsibility and we believe the right decision has been taken in these very difficult and unprecedented circumstances.

We look forward to working closely together in a spirit of partnership with the IOC, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and all other stakeholders towards the rescheduling of the Games and our belief from the outstanding Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, is that the hosts will come out of this adversity stronger and more committed than ever before to deliver an exceptional Games."