Coronavirus pandemic: World Athletics Championships postponed to July 2022

The World Athletics Championships due to be held in Oregon in August 2021 have been pushed back to July 2022 to avoid clashing with the rescheduled Olympic Games.

File photo of Steven Gardiner competing in the Men's 400 metres final at the 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

The World Athletics Championships have been moved back 11 months to July 2022 to avoid clashing with the Tokyo Olympics, which has been delayed by the coronavirus outbreak, the sport's governing body said on Wednesday.

World Athletics confirmed in a statement that the event, which is usually held every two years, would now take place from July 15-24 in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon.

The original dates of August 6-15 2021 would have clashed with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics which were last month postponed by a year from the original July-August 2020 schedule.

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The new dates for the worlds were chosen to avoid clashing with the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and the European Athletics Championships in Munich.

World Athletics said it would allow athletes to compete in all three events, where eligible.

“The new schedule will prevent a direct conflict between any of these major events and, with careful programming, will ensure athletes can compete in up to three world-class competitions,” said World Athletics in a statement.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said that having the three events run consecutively over the course of a single summer would be “a bonanza for athletics fans around the world.

“They will be treated to six weeks of absolutely first-class athletics,” said Coe.

“We would not have chosen to have three major championships back-to-back but it will give us a unique opportunity to promote our sport and its stars around the globe over a six-week period.”

The previous world championships were held in Doha last year and the 2023 edition will take place in Budapest.