The New York City Marathon, set to take place on November 1, has been cancelled due to health and safety concerns.
“Cancelling this year’s New York City Marathon is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, but it was clearly the course we needed to follow from a health and safety perspective,” said Michael Capiraso, President and CEO of New York Road Runners, the event’s organisers on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.
Capiraso said he and other organizers had held out hope that the race could happen.
“There was hope but there’s too much uncertainty, and given what we have seen the past few months, this was really the only decision,” said Capiraso.
American public health experts have said mass events, particularly those that bring people together from across the globe, will remain a danger until a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available.
The experts have also issued warnings about another wave of infections this autumn in the United States, with new cases rising across many states.
“While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The event began in 1970 and has grown to become the world’s largest marathon. Last year, more than 53,000 runners crossed the finish line.
Runners who have signed up for this year’s race will be able to choose to receive a refund or to defer their entry to the race during the next three years.
The marathon will take place on November 7 next year.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Olympics and Paralympics stand postponed.
Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Premier League have recently become the high-profile sporting events to resume after almost a three month period with almost no sporting activity.
A few cricketing boards around the world have only recently granted permission to their players to resume training.
The move to restart sporting leagues and tournaments comes after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.
The virus has already infected more than 9.3 million people around the world while claiming over 480 thousand lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.
(With inputs from IANS)