Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, John Coates, confirmed that the games will take place next summer "with or without Covid."

The 2020 Summer Olympics were slated to take place this past summer in Tokyo, Japan. The event was going to be themed as the Reconstruction Games, making a nod to the 2011 tsunami which caused mass devastation for the islands.

Now the games will be known as "the games that conquered Covid."

The Tokyo Olympics will take place beginning July 23rd, 2021 and will be altered to follow pandemic protocols. Speculations say to expect the possibility of limited audiences and simplified opening and closing ceremonies. It could also be that staffing and participation numbers may be limited for the games as well.

These limitations, however, are all dependent on the state of COVID-19. Regardless, Toshiro Muto, chief executive of Tokyo 2020, explained:

"If a vaccine is ready, that will be a benefit, but we're not saying we can't hold the event without it - it's not a precondition."

If the events were to be further postponed past next summer, Muto confirmed that a cancellation would likely be inevitable. This is the first time in history that an Olympic Games has been postponed. Games in the past have been cancelled due to war, but this pandemic is a first.

For now, Tokyo along with Olympic athletes around the world are keeping hope. You can watch the latest #strongertogether campaign here!