LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND—In an effort to quell cancellation rumors amidst coronavirus concerns, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo would go on as planned because true athletes always challenge themselves, welcoming every obstacle they counter. “At its core, being an athlete is all about overcoming adversity, and we can’t think of anything that better embodies the Olympic spirit than making top athletes from around the world brave the threat of a deadly global pandemic in order to compete,” said IOC president Thomas Bach, who emphasized there was no feat more inspiring than Olympic athletes testing their personal limits while they push through the symptoms of a highly contagious virus as it attacks their lungs. “When the going gets tough—right when you think you’ll be counted out because an unpreventable, untreatable respiratory disease is spreading both across the planet and inside your own body—that’s when Olympians shine brightest. Perhaps this year we’ll see our athletes persevering like never before as they struggle simply to catch their next breath.” Bach went on to state that spectators should not cancel plans to purchase tickets for this year’s Summer Olympics unless they are fair-weather fans who have lost all faith in the ability of the human spirit to triumph in the face of difficulty.

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