Why the U.S. Lagged Behind in the Drive to Postpone the Summer Olympics

New leadership was intended to build trust and confidence following an abuse scandal, but athletes say they are frustrated the organization fell behind in the groundswell to postpone the Games.

Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times.

Night of the British PRs – and a National record.

Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme de Rabat Stade Olympique, Rabat (MAR), 25 May 2025

This Day in Track & Field, May 22, Paavo Nurmi races in front of 35,000 fans at Harvard (1925), Don Quarrie ties 100m WR of 9.9 (1976), by Walt Murphy

(RunBlogRun opines: This is another fantastic piece by the NYT on the complicated scenario of the USOPC late response as the pressure built up to postpone the Summer Olympics from 2020 to 2021. )

By Matthew Futterman and Andrew Keh

March 26, 2020, 9:00 a.m. ET

Two years ago, after revelations a team doctor had abused hundreds of gymnasts, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee underwent an overhaul designed to restore and instill confidence and trust among thousands of American athletes.

Yet, in recent days as a swelling tide of athletes openly worried about the ability to train and prepare for the Summer Olympics as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered facilities and people were told to remain inside their homes, the committee hunkered down and sided with the International Olympic Committee’s insistence on delaying any decision to press forward with the Games. The implicit message: stay healthy and safe, but try to keep training for a July Olympics.

To read this story in its entirety, please go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/sports/olympics/coronavirus-tokyo-olympics-usoc.html