China cancels Asian Athletics Championship

By Susil Premalal

The 24th Senior Asian Athletic Championship has been cancelled by the Chinese Athletic Association since there is no improvement in the containment of the coronavirus outbreak.

This championship was scheduled to be from May 20 to 23 in Hangzhou, China.

It was earlier scheduled to be held in April 2020 but postponed to this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Asian Athletic Association has accepted the decision of the Chinese Athletic Association to cancel the event.

Held every two years, the Asian athletic body has not decided whether the next Asian Athletic Championship will be held in 2023 or 2024.

The 24th Asian Athletic Championship which was to serve as a final qualification event for the Tokyo Olympics has dashed the hopes of many athletes who are on the fringe of qualification.

No Sri Lankan athlete has still qualified for the Olympic Games and will have to depend on ‘wild card’ entries to participate in the event.