As the coronavirus spreads in Japan, the chief executive of the Tokyo Games said Friday he can't guarantee the postponed Olympics will be staged next year — even with a 16-month delay.

This summer's Tokyo Olympics fell victim to the coronavirus crisis Tuesday as the death toll mounted rapidly in Europe and the United States, while American lawmakers closed in on a nearly $2 trillion deal to blunt the outbreak's economic damage.

The Tokyo Olympics are going to happen — but almost surely in 2021 rather than in four months as planned.

With more and more calls to postpone the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus outbreak, it's worth noting that this every-four-years spectacle has been rocked before by traumatic events.