#ICYMI: IOC - 'The Games Will Go Ahead', Aly Raisman Blasts USA Gymnastics Settlement

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IOC: 'The Games Will Go Ahead'

(ATR) Faced with a barrage of questions about the potential threat and implications of the coronavirus on staging the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams adamantly insists that the Games will begin as scheduled on July 24.

Adams said the IOC’s position follows advice given by the World Health Organization, which is not classifying the coronavirus as a global pandemic, and that there currently is no travel ban to Japan.

"The conclusion from us is that the Games are going ahead, the Games will go ahead, we’re confident that they’re going ahead and they will start on the 24th," Adams told journalists in Lausanne.

"Obviously, it is a big issue for a lot of people and there is a lot of worry," he said.

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Aly Raisman Blasts USA Gymnastics Settlement

(ATR) Aly Raisman says a proposed settlement from USA Gymnastics over a massive sex abuse scandal fails to hold sports leaders accountable.

The gold medal gymnast is one of hundreds of victims who have sued the NGB and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee over the abuse they suffered under the guise of treatment by team doctor Larry Nassar. Nassar is in prison with consecutive sentences lasting 150 years.

Raisman is one of the most outspoken of the Nassar victims. This week on the NBC Today program she took aim at the $215 million settlement offered by USA Gymnastics to 517 victims. The settlement would block subsequent legal action against leaders of USAG or the USOPC.

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Lighting Ceremonies in Olympia Curtailed

(ATR) The Lighting and Handover ceremonies for the Olympic Flame in ancient Olympia later this month will go ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak.

But the Hellenic Olympic Committee on Tuesday said "with a sense of responsibility for the protection of public health" the plans surrounding the events would be curtailed.

The Lighting ceremony is scheduled for March 12 and the Handover to Tokyo 2020 for March 19.

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Coronavirus Update: Postponements, Cancellations Grow

(ATR) The spread of coronavirus and attempts to contain the disease are forcing more cancellations or postponements of sporting events around the world.

World Half Marathon Championships Postponed

The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, scheduled for Gydina, Poland on March 29, will now take place on October 17.

World Athletics said in a statement that the "current international situation would have seriously compromised the event at this time as many countries are now restricting international travel, invoking quarantines and advising citizens and event organizers to avoid mass gatherings".

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