Last week, amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Japan, reports in The Times of London stated that the Japan government privately concluded that the 2021 Olympic games be cancelled due to the Coronavirus. That led to immediate pushback from the IOC and Japan's own Olympic committee, and the Japanese government, which called the reports “categorically untrue.”

Organizers and I.O.C. officials have said that no further postponement is possible and that if the Games do not proceed in the summer of 2021 they will be canceled, which would be the first time the Games have been scrubbed since World War II.

Hosts Michael Doyle and Alex Cyr speculate about the logistical and financial feasibility of the 2021 Olympics, how the IOC could use this trying year as a springboard for a better Olympic model, and what changes in sports, customs and traditions would make the Games better for 2021 and beyond.