Japanese swimming athlete Rikako Ikee holds up a lantern containing Olympic flame during a ceremonial event to mark a year-to-go until the start of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, July 23, 2020. On March 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee jointly announced that, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games were rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021. It is the first time that the modern Olympic Games being postponed since the birth in 1896, although they have been canceled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World War I and World War II. A string of other international sports events including football's European Championships were either postponed or canceled due to the pandemic. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
