The World Athletics Championship, which was scheduled for 6-15 August, 2021, has been postponed to avoid a potential clash with the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. The Championship will now take place between July 15 and July 24, 2022, informed World Athletics on Wednesday.
The Olympics organisers and the International Olympic Committee had decided to reschedule the Olympic Games from July 24-August 9, 2020, to July 23-August 8, 2021, on March 24 following a teleconference call between Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, IOC chief and all other stakeholders.
“The World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport’s stakeholders including organisers of two other major championships due to take place in July-August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multisport European Championships in Munich,” the international governing body of athletics said in an official statement.
Meanwhile, World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe said that there would be a bonanza for the fans as they will have the chance to witness top-level athletics for a extended period with the World Championship, Commonwealth Games and the European Championship.
“We believe we have found a solution that will allow athletes who are eligible for the other two events to compete in them with the Commonwealth Games Federation planning to stage the athletics programme towards the end of their event. This will showcase our sport to its best advantage in the circumstances and we will continue collaborating with all competitions on the detailed programming.
“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,” Coe was quoted as saying on the official website of World Athletics.