New Delhi [India], Mar 24 : Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports on Tuesday welcomed International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to postpone the Tokyo Games.
He also said that better opportunities will be created by the ministry for India's best-ever medal tally at the event.
"I welcome the decision of IOC to postpone #Tokyo2020 in view of the global pandemic. It's necessary for the well being of athletes from across the world. I urge our athletes not to lose heart. We'll create better opportunities so that we can have India's best medal tally in 2021," Rijiju tweeted.
Earlier today, for the first time in the history of the mega global event, the Olympics were postponed by a year.
The decision was confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the orgsing body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the Tokyo Olympics in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tokyo Olympics will now take place next year.
The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.
"In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," the IOC said in an official statement.
The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9, while the Paralympic Games were scheduled to be held from August 25 to September 6.
( With inputs from ANI )