USOPC to cut up to 20%, says no games would be ‘devastating’

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is bracing for cuts of 10% to 20% because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is also warning athletes that a full cancellation of the Tokyo Games would be devastating to the organization.

The Associated Press received a copy of a letter CEO Sarah Hirshland sent to leaders across U.S. Olympic sports in which she said the exact nature of the cuts would be determined by the end of May.

She says rather than doing across-the-board reductions, the USOPC will try to target the cuts to spare what she called mission-critical programs.

The Tokyo Games have been postponed by a year, but nobody is ruling out the possibility they could be canceled altogether.

It’s a worst-case scenario that Hirshland says would cripple Team USA.