2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships over coronavirus fears

The 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing have been postponed because of fears over the spread of the coronavirus in China.

The championships were to be held from 13-15 March but governing body World Athletics pushed them back 12 months.

World Athletics sought advice from the World Health Organisation and turned down offers to host from other cities.

The coronavirus has killed more than 130 people in China and has spread to 16 countries globally.

Around 7000 people in all have been infected by the virus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.

The epicentre of the outbreak is the Chinese city of Wuhan, around 370 miles from Nanjing.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation warned the “whole world needs to be on alert”.

The 2018 World Indoor Athletics Championships was held in Birmingham, while they will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2022.

Earlier, The men’s alpine skiing World Cup races in China cancelled due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed 170people so far.

The International Ski Federation confirmed the downhill and super-G races scheduled for 15 and 16 February in Yanqing would not go ahead.

The new Olympic downhill course set to host the first Beijing 2022 test.

“Although the risk level in Yanqing is low, the health and welfare of all participants must take priority,” said International Ski Federation (FIS) president Gian Franco Kasper.

“It is also imperative athletes can focus on their performance and particularly on the completely new and very challenging course.”

Furthermore The number of cases of coronavirus has topped 5,000.

Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics with the Yanquing district set to host the alpine skiing, bobsleigh and luge events.

The FIS is aiming to re-arrange the races for later in the year.