Tokyo Olympics "Postponed by 1 Year"... Uzuwa and Park In-bi "Regrettable"

COVID-19 Spread Halts, Woods' 'First Appearance' and Park In-bi's Bid for 2nd Consecutive Win 'All Stop'

Tiger Woods (left) and Inbee Park's challenge for Tokyo Olympic tickets has been temporarily halted due to the spread of COVID-19.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The Tokyo Olympics in Japan have ultimately been hampered by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), reached a sudden agreement on March 24 (Korean time) via a phone call to postpone the Olympics by one year. Due to the spread of COVID-19, the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for July 24 have been canceled. This is the first time in 124 years since the inception of the modern Olympics in 1896 that the Games have been postponed. The procedures related to the Tokyo Olympics are effectively at a complete standstill. Golf will also restart from scratch.

The International Golf Federation (IGF) stated on March 25, "We will cooperate with the IOC to ensure a safe and fair 2021 Tokyo Olympics." Golf was expected to be a major attraction at the Tokyo Olympics. While top-ranked players did not participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics due to reasons such as the Zika virus, this time the world's top players, including world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), No. 2 Jon Rahm (Spain), and the "resurrected golf emperor" Tiger Woods (USA), have expressed their intention to compete.

Above all, attention was focused on whether Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour's all-time leader with 82 wins, would participate. Woods has been on a steep upward trajectory, winning the Masters in April last year and the Zozo Championship in October, which is part of the 2019/2020 season. Although he was managing his condition due to a recurring back injury, he was in a position to compete in the Olympics. Golf allows two players per country, but countries with players ranked in the top 15 worldwide as of the end of June can send up to four players.

Woods is ranked 11th in the world and is the seventh-ranked American player. No. 3 Brooks Koepka's participation in the Olympics is uncertain, and No. 5 Dustin Johnson (USA) had already declared he would not participate. With the Olympics postponed by one year, Woods' medal challenge has become uncertain. Although the delay gives him time to improve his world ranking, the fact that he will be 45 years old next year is a concern. There is cautious analysis that "time could rather become an enemy."

The women's division has also fallen into a fierce competition. The battle for Olympic tickets among Korean players is expected to intensify. World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (25), No. 3 Park Sung-hyun (27), No. 6 Kim Sei-young (27, Mirae Asset), and No. 10 Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction) had secured advantageous positions but now must fight fiercely from scratch. Conversely, No. 13 Kim Hyo-joo (25, Lotte), No. 18 Yoo So-yeon (30, Mediheal), and No. 20 Hur Mi-jung (31, Daebang Construction) have new opportunities for a comeback.

The two-time defending champion "Golf Queen" Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group) will also take a breather. In February, she won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, the fourth event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season, marking her 20th career victory after 1 year and 11 months. She was determined to participate in almost all tournaments until June, when Olympic participation would be decided, to secure her ticket. She has steadily improved her world ranking since the beginning of the year to 11th, the fifth among Korean players.

Park In-bee said, "I feel a great deal of regret as I had prepared a lot." The men's golf competition was scheduled to take place over four days from July 30 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club near Tokyo. Four years ago, Justin Rose (England), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), and Matt Kuchar (USA) took first to third place respectively. The women's competition was planned for August 6 to 9, one week later. At the Rio Olympics, Lydia Ko (New Zealand) finished second, and Feng Shanshan (China) was third.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.