Despite the alarming threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to make a decision regarding the 2020 Summer Olympics slated from July 24 to August 9, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Regardless of the IOC's decision whether to postpone or cancel the games altogether, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee confirmed in a statement on Sunday that they will no longer send their athletes to the games.
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
Shortly after the NBA decided to suspend the 2019-20 regular season campaign following the positive diagnosis of Rudy Gobert, multiple major sporting leagues around the world followed suit.
The threat of COVID-19 would indeed be catastrophic for an event of this magnitude, considering this year's Olympics is expected to host 11,091 athletes from 205 nations.
Pundits have long been criticizing the IOC for not suspending the games since the virus began wreaking havoc worldwide. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe recently revealed that they are indeed considering postponing the event and will come to a decision in the coming days.
Canada, meanwhile, is home to some of the youngest and brightest stars in the NBA today.
Notable players include Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Andrew Wiggins (Golden State Warriors, RJ Barrett (New York Knicks), Brandon Clarke (Memphis Grizzlies), Dillon Brooks (Memphis Grizzlies), and Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers), among others.
Canada is the first country to pull-out from the Olympics due to the COVID-19 threat and other nations might follow suit if the IOC chooses to push through with the Olympics.
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