Olympic countdown clock in Tokyo 'switched off' after 2020 Games are postponed

Passers-by posed for pictures in front of the Olympics countdown clock at Tokyo Station on Wednesday after it stopped displaying the number of days until the Games.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been scheduled to kick off on July 24, and on Tuesday the clock was still counting down the 122 days until the Games.

But on Wednesday morning the countdown had been replaced by the current date and time, with organisers now uncertain when the Games will take place amid uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The inevitable was confirmed on Tuesday when IOC, Tokyo 2020 organisers and the Japanese government announced the Olympics and Paralympics will now be held at some point in 2021, in the summertime of that year at the latest.

The clock from sponsor Omega has been a draw for locals as well as tourists taking selfies in front of the iconic red-brick station building.