Despite his age, businessman Gilady, 77, was not shutting himself away at home. Instead he flew to London and then Tokyo last week and told the Israel squad life in Tokyo was not in lockdown. But by Wednesday, he was reconciled to the IOC’s decision to postpone the games until July 2021.

Gilady explained the reason for the change was the spread of the virus to Africa and that it would not be appropriate to exclude a continent from the games. “Maybe Europe and North America will control the virus by the summer but Africa won’t,” he said.

Meanwhile the Olympic Committee of Israel has confirmed that all Israelis who qualified for the 2020 Olympics will automatically qualify for next year. Team Israel will comprise a record number of about 85 sportspeople including a 24-man baseball squad.