The Olympic Games in Tokyo will begin on July 23, 2021, and run to August 8 after being postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) convened for the decision on Monday.
Despite taking place in 2021 the Games will also be renamed Tokyo 2020.
The Paralympic Games will now be held between 24 August and 5 September 2021, initially due to begin on 25 August 2020.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “I am sure that we will master this unparalleled task by working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government and all of our stakeholders. These Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be a light at the end of this tunnel.
Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, added: “When next year’s Paralympic Games take place in Tokyo, they will be an extra-special example of uniting humanity as one, a global celebration of human endurance and a stunning sports showcase.”
“With the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games 512 days away, the goal for all those participating with the Paralympic movement must be to concentrate on remaining healthy with their friends and families in this unprecedented and difficult period.”
The decision to postpone both events was made to protect the safety of the participants and all concerned, and to facilitate the containment of the Covid-19 virus.
The revised dates also took the remainder of the global sporting calendar into account following the postponement of the men’s European football championship to the summer of 2021.
The World Athletics Championships, which originally scheduled to take place between 6 August and 15 August 2021 in Oregon, USA, will now be postponed until 2022.
This will conflict with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which is expected to take place between 27 July and 7 August, if it were pushed back exactly one year.
“We are endorsing the new 2021 dates for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. This gives our athletes the time they need to get back into training and competition,” said World Athletics in a statement.
“Everyone needs to be flexible and negotiate, and to that end, we are now negotiating on new dates in 2022 with the organizers of the Oregon World Athletics Championships. ‘We are now in talks with the Commonwealth Games Federation and the European Championships.’
Organizers hope that the delay will allow ample time to complete the qualification process that will follow the same mitigating.