Canada Becomes The First Country To Declare That It Is Not Sending Atheletes To The Olympic Games In Tokyo This July

RELEASE: The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee have made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020: https://t.co/HyOBA5wwp4 pic.twitter.com/x9OWABVxMA

— Team Canada PR (@TeamCanadaPR) March 23, 2020

CBC: Canadian athletes will not compete at Tokyo 2020 Games due to risks of COVID-19

Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees call for 1-year postponement.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee say they will not send athletes to compete in Tokyo if the Games — set to begin July 24 — go ahead as scheduled.

Backed by the Athletes' Commissions, National Sports Organizations and the Government of Canada, the COC and CPC say they have "made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020."

The two committees are calling on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the Games for a year, citing the safety of athletes and the general public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is not solely about athlete health — it is about public health," the committees said in a statement Sunday night.

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Update #1: Canada says it won't participate in Games in summer 2020 (Reuters)
Update #2: Coronavirus: Canada refuses to send athletes to Tokyo Olympics unless Games postponed (Global News/Canadian Press).

WNU Editor: This pandemic is nowhere close to coming to an end. And certainly not by July. I expect more countries will be making an announcement that they are not sending their teams to Tokyo this summer.