WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump praised Tokyo's Olympic preparations and their "magnificent" venue late on Thursday, just hours after he suggested delaying the Games for up to a year due to the coronavirus.

His apparent change of heart came after a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"Just had a great conversation with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. I told him that the just completed Olympic venue is magnificent," Mr Trump tweeted. "He has done an incredible job, one that will make him very proud. Good things will happen for Japan and their great Prime Minister. Lots of options!"

Just hours earlier, Mr Trump was the first foreign leader to suggest delaying the Olympics because of the coronavirus, dropping a bombshell on his "good friend" Mr Abe.

"Maybe they postpone it for a year," he told reporters in the Oval Office, 19 weeks before the opening ceremony in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.

His comments came the same day as actresses dressed as ancient Greek priestesses held the ceremonial flame lighting at a ruined temple in the original Olympia, Greece.

It was all the more surprising, given Mr Trump's repeated declarations of close friendship with Mr Abe and his reluctance previously to give advice on the situation.

Japanese organisers have reiterated that the coronavirus pandemic will not derail the Games, which are scheduled to run from July 24 to Aug 9, even if major sporting events, travel and financial markets are already seeing massive disruption worldwide.

Japanese Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto told a news conference yesterday: "I'm aware of President Trump's remarks.

"The IOC (International Olympic Committee) and 2020 organisers are not at all considering cancelling or postponing the Games.

"I've heard they are proceeding with preparations for safe and secure games as planned towards the opening day of July 24."

The IOC also said there has not been any talk of cancellation or postponement, but it will ultimately follow the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommendation on whether to proceed with the Games.

"With the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia today, the IOC confirms its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," the IOC said in a statement on Thursday.

Despite those assurances, fear of the easily transmitted virus forced the torch-lighting ceremony to take place without spectators in Greece's Peloponnese region.

In an interview with German television ARD on Thursday, IOC chief Thomas Bach said his organisation has been in regular contact with WHO experts since mid-February over the issue.

"We will follow the advice of the WHO," he said.

With cancellations of Olympic qualifiers piling up as countries unroll drastic measures to halt the contagion, Bach acknowledged that there are "serious problems with qualification competitions".

"Here we will have to react very flexibly," he said, adding that this could be through postponing competitions or changing qualification criteria.

What is key, he said, is that athletes, particularly those from countries hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, must be offered "fair qualification under these very difficult conditions".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS