Doubts are growing over whether the World Indoor Athletics championships will be staged in Nanjing in March after China’s leader Xi Jinping warned of the “accelerating spread” of the coronavirus in the country.
On Sunday the Asian Athletics Association announced it was cancelling its Indoor Championships, which were due to take place in Hangzhou – 600km from Wuhan – on 12 and 13 February because of the virus, leading to increasing speculation within athletics circles that the World Indoors is also under threat.
World Athletics confirmed to the Guardian that it is in close discussions with the World Health Organization as well as individual federations and was monitoring the situation “carefully”. No decision had yet been taken and it is understood that organisers are still preparing to host the event as planned in seven weeks’ time.
Their hope is that, with nearly two months before the championships are due to take place, there is still time for the situation in China to be brought under control. They also point out that Nanjing is 280 miles from Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak. However, the rapid spread of the virus, which has led to more than 2,000 people becoming infected as well as 56 deaths and three Chinese cities being put on lockdown, is causing growing concerns.
“World Athletics is monitoring this situation carefully and is in close contact with the World Health Organization,” a spokesperson confirmed. “Should any of the WHO advice affect plans for the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020, we will notify all our stakeholders promptly.”
It is understood that UK Athletics medical team have been in communication with UK-based infectious disease experts to be aware of all developments as well as talking to World Athletics.
The Foreign Office advice recently advised British citizens against travel to Wuhan and Hubei province. However, the World Health Organization has not yet changed its travel advice regarding China.
Britain is expected to send a weakened team to the championships, with Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir all making it clear that their focus this year is solely on the Tokyo Olympics.
