受新冠肺炎全球疫情影响，日本首相安倍晋三于3月24日与国际奥委会主席巴赫达成一致，东京奥运会将确定推迟至2021年举办，最晚不超过2021年夏天，名称依旧为“东京2020年奥运会和残奥会”。
A woman wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walks past the Olympic rings in front of the Japan Olympics Museum in Tokyo, March 13, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee have agreed that the upcoming Tokyo Games "will be held by the summer of 2021," the prime minister's office announced Tuesday.
日本首相安倍晋三办公室于本周二（3月24日）宣布，首相安倍晋三和国际奥委会一致同意，东京奥运会将推迟至2021年举办，最晚不超过2021年夏天。
The 2020 Summer Olympics were originally slated to kick off in Japan's capital on July 24, but there has been mounting pressure for organizers to postpone or cancel the Games due to an ongoing pandemic of the novel coronavirus, which the World Health Organization warned Monday is "accelerating."
2020年东京奥运会原定于7月24日在日本首都东京开幕，但由于新冠肺炎疫情持续，组织者面临的推迟或取消奥运会的压力越来越大。世界卫生组织于本周一（3月23日）警告称，“疫情正在加速蔓延”。
"I proposed to postpone for about a year and president Bach responded with 100% agreement," Abe told reporters in Tokyo Tuesday, referring to Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee.
本周二（3月24日），安倍晋三在东京对记者说：“我提议推迟大约一年，国际奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫表示完全同意。”
Abe -- who pushed hard for Tokyo's selection as the host city -- and Bach both agreed that the Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021," according to a joint statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.
"The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present," the statement said. "Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020."
声明称：“双方一致认为，在这个困难时期，东京奥运会可以成为世界的希望灯塔，奥林匹克圣火可能成为当今世界所处困境的希望之光，因此奥林匹克圣火将继续保留在日本。双方还同意，本届赛事的名称依旧为‘东京2020年奥运会和残奥会’。”
a beacon of hope：希望的灯塔
A 3D printed Olympics logo is seen in front of displayed "Tokyo 2021" words in this illustration taken March 24, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
Japan appears to have successfully slowed the spread of the respiratory virus on home soil so far, with just 1,140 diagnosed cases as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
根据约翰霍普金斯大学系统科学与工程中心汇编的数据，目前日本似乎已经成功地减缓了新冠病毒在本土的传播，截至本周二（3月24日），日本确诊病例仅有1140例。
But as the health crisis deepens in other parts of the world, including Europe and North America, a growing number of Olympic teams and athletes called on organizers to delay or cancel the 2020 Summer Olympics.
但随着欧洲和北美等世界其他地区的健康危机加剧，越来越多的奥运代表团和运动员呼吁组织者推迟或取消2020年夏季奥运会。
Canada was the first country to announce it would not be sending athletes to this year's Olympics due to risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee called on organizers to delay the Games for one year.
由于担心新冠肺炎疫情带来的风险，加拿大成为第一个宣布将不派运动员参加今年奥运会的国家。加拿大奥委会和加拿大残奥委会呼吁组织者将奥运会推迟一年。
"While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community," the committees said in a joint statement Sunday. "This is not solely about athlete health -- it is about public health."
加拿大奥委会和加拿大残奥委会在上周日（3月22日）的一份联合声明中表示：“虽然我们认识到延期的内在复杂性，但没有什么比我们的运动员以及国际社会的健康与安全更重要。这不仅仅关乎运动员的健康——还关乎公共健康。”
Australia followed suit. After deciding unanimously not to send a team, the Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement that "our athletes now need to prioritize their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families."
Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll said athletes should prepare for the Tokyo Games in 2021.
澳大利亚奥委会首席执行官马特·卡罗尔说，运动员应该为2021年举办的东京奥运会做准备。
"The athletes desperately want to go to the games," Carroll told reporters in Sydney on Monday, "but they also take onboard their own personal health."
卡罗尔于本周一（3月23日）在悉尼接受记者采访时说：“运动员们都非常想参加奥运会，但他们也很重视自己的身体健康。”
"We need to give our athletes that certainty," he added, "and that's what we've done."
他补充道：“我们需要给我们的运动员确定的消息，这就是我们所做的。”
A man walks past a display showing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games logo in Tokyo on Tuesday. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP
史上第六次奥运会被推迟或取消
The Summer Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, typically bringing more than 10,000 athletes from around the world together every four years, The New York Times reports.
据《纽约时报》报道，夏季奥运会是世界上规模最大的体育赛事，每四年举办一届，有来自世界各地的一万多名运动员参加。
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.
夏季或冬季奥运会被推迟或取消的情况极为罕见。自1896年现代奥运会开始以来，这种情况只发生过6次，而且通常发生在战争时期。
The Olympic Games were canceled during World War I and World War II. The 1940 Summer Games, scheduled to take place in Tokyo, were moved to Helsinki , Finland due to war, and they were later canceled altogether. The current coronavirus pandemic marks the first time the competition has ever been temporarily postponed for a reason other than war.
奥运会在第一次世界大战和第二次世界大战期间被取消。原定于1940年在东京举行的夏季奥运会，由于战争原因举办地改为芬兰赫尔辛基，之后被完全取消。此次因新冠肺炎疫情推迟奥运会是首次由于战争以外的原因而暂时推迟这一赛事。
六次被推迟或取消的奥运会分别是：
1916 Summer Olympics // Berlin, Germany 1916年德国柏林夏季奥运会（一战期间）
1940 Summer Olympics // Tokyo, Japan and Helsinki, Finland 1940年日本东京（芬兰赫尔辛基）夏季奥运会（二战期间）
1940 Winter Olympics // Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 1940年德国加尔米施-帕滕基兴冬季奥运会（二战期间）
1944 Summer Olympics // London, United Kingdom 1944年英国伦敦夏季奥运会（二战期间）
1944 Winter Olympics // Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy 1944年意大利科尔蒂纳丹佩佐冬季奥运会（二战期间）
2020 Summer Olympics // Tokyo, Japan 2020年日本东京夏季奥运会（新冠肺炎疫情期间）