Visa were said to be the first company to formally extend its financial support of athletes following the postponement of Tokyo 2020. 

According to Sports Business Journal (SBJ), however, Toyota had reached out to athletes first.

"Toyota had reached out to all the agents and basically said, 'we will help your athletes do what they need to do,'" the SBJ source said.

"Toyota is definitely not leaving any of these athletes behind.

"We had a phone call with Toyota’s leadership, and they were very genuine, they were very human. 

"They really brought it."

The Japanese car giant, a worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, supports around 243 athletes from 43 countries. 

This includes a number of Olympic gold medallists, including British cyclist Laura Kenny, American diver David Boudia and Dutch Para-triathlete Jetze Plat.

Toyota are also set to provide a line-up of electrified vehicles for Tokyo 2020, as well as robots for event operations. 

Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee agreed to postpone the upcoming Games due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has now infected just under 880,000 people worldwide and killed more than 43,000. 

The Olympics are now set to be held from July 23 to August 8 2021, while the Paralympics are scheduled from August 24 to September 5.