6 Times the Olympics Were Postponed or Canceled

The Summer Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, typically bringing more than 10,000 athletes from dozens of countries together every four years. But the most recent iteration of the Summer Games was famous for another reason.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were officially postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan agreed to push the start date back to 2021 after Canada, Australia, and other countries announced they would not send athletes to the competition. The event—still known as the 2020 Games—eventually took place in July and August 2021.

It's extremely rare for the Summer or Winter Olympics to be postponed or canceled. Since 1896, when the modern Olympic Games began, it has happened only six times—and it usually requires a war.

Event	Location	Canceled or Postponed	Reason
1916 Summer Olympics	Berlin, Germany	Canceled	World War I
1940 Winter Olympics	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	Canceled	World War II
1940 Summer Olympics	Tokyo, Japan, then Helsinki, Finland	Postponed, then canceled	World War II
1944 Winter Olympics	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Canceled	World War II
1944 Summer Olympics	London, UK	Canceled	World War II
2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo, Japan	Postponed to 2021	Coronavirus pandemic

The Olympic Games were canceled in Europe and Japan due to World War I and World War II. The 1940 Summer Games, scheduled to take place in Tokyo, were postponed due to war and moved to Helsinki, Finland, where they were later canceled altogether. The coronavirus pandemic marked the first time the competition has ever been temporarily postponed for a reason other than war.

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A version of this story was published in 2020; it has been updated for 2024.

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