Shortly after this article was posted, the IOC announced that the Olympic Games will be postponed until 2021.
The pressure is now mounting on the IOC to postpone the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Insiders are now openly talking about a postponement.
After yesterdays announcement from the Canadian Olympic Committee that they would not send athletes to the Games unless they are postponed, The USA committee has urged the IOC to take a decision to postpone. It did so after surveying American athletes for their views.
Dick Pound, an IOC member, has publically stated that he thinks the Games will not be able to happen in July and August this year and will be held in 2021 instead. Based on his interview with USA Today, it sounds like the decision has already been taken and now only legal details are being resolved before it is announced.
A postponement will throw the qualification process for weightlifting into further chaos. It has already been amended following cancellation of qualifying competitions. It would seem impossible for the IWF to use existing qualification rankings for an event so far in the future.