ALTERNATE SCENARIOS
Canada's boycott will add to growing pressure on the IOC to alter the schedule after criticism from a slew of current and former athletes with health concerns.
"YESSSSSS CANADA!!!!!!! pulls out of OLYMPICS UNLESS IOC POSTPONE!!!," tweeted U.S. former Olympian Lolo Jones. "OUR HEALTH IS MORE important than sport. Hopefully the UNITED STATES is next."
The the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said it would not be commenting on Sunday about Canada's decision.
Earlier, the USOPC had welcomed the IOC's statement but said more clarity was needed for athletes.
"The progress reflected in today's IOC update ... is an important step in providing clarity but our athlete community continues to face enormous ambiguity surrounding the 2020 Games in Tokyo," USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and athletes advisory council chair Han Xiao said in a statement.
The Olympics have never been postponed or cancelled during peacetime but the IOC's decision to even consider postponement was met with relief from several major stakeholders, including World Athletics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and major national Olympic committees. The last major boycott of the Olympics was when the Soviet bloc stayed away from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, although North Korea and Cuba skipped the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
"As an Olympian, feeling for Team Canada athletes and coaches who have worked so hard ... I know these decisions will impact many beyond sport," tweeted Charmaine Crooks, a five-time Canadian Olympic sprinter and former IOC member. "Health first."
