Many were disappointed to learn last Spring that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It left fans wondering whether the Games would be canceled indefinitely or just postponed?
The Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternate every two years, and have done so since 1994 but 2020 would be the first time in over 70 years they wouldn’t proceed as planned.
So, when are the Tokyo Olympics 2021 being held? The Olympic Games will begin on July 23 and run through August 8. The Paralympics will take place from August 24th through September 5th.
Watching the Tokyo Olympics: 2021 schedule
How Olympics rules have changed over the years
Rules and requirements of the Olympics have changed and evolved over the years. In 1900, Olympic’s rules finally allowed cisgender women the ability to compete in The Olympic Games but there is very little wiggle-room within the rules themselves.
A look at a few Olympic rules and how they’ve changed:
7. Eligibility requirements for certain women’s events require testosterone levels to be below 5 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) over the course of 12 months.
Olympics transgender rules recently announced that runner CeCe Telfer would be unable to compete in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials due to the testosterone requirement, while cisgender runners from Namibia — Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi — were banned from the Olympic 400-meter dash due to natural high testosterone levels.
Jennifer Gosshandler is a mom of four and the parent of a transgender daughter. Earlier this year, in an article for Yahoo News, she talked about the ongoing controversy regarding allowing transgender women to compete in the Olympic games.
“I’ve seen all sorts of terrible things happening within women’s sports including unequal pay, sexual abuse, and harassment. Transgender girls and women are not and never will be a challenge to women’s sports,” Grosshandler wrote in an article on Yahoo.com.
In June, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard (pictured above), a transgender woman, was added to the weightlifting roster for the Summer Games.
8. There are 15 new disciplines at Tokyo 2021.
Ironically, in an effort to increase women’s participation and promote equality among competitors, new disciplines were added. Some of these include additional swimming events, a mixed team event in archery, and a 4×400 mixed relay.
9. Olympics sports come and go over the years.
Last year wrestling was removed from the Olympic Games lineup but viewers will get to enjoy karate, surfing, sport climbing, baseball, and skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite a new wave of COVID-19 infections in Japan and survey results indicating that 83% of those polled would prefer that the Olympic games were postponed or canceled indefinitely, the 2021 Tokyo Games will proceed as planned.
