2023 World Indoor Athletics Championships postponed again due to COVID-19

The 2023 World Indoor Championships which were scheduled to be held in Nanjing, China on March 17-19, have been pushed back yet again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released by World Athletics, the new dates for the Chinese event will now take place in March of 2025.

“This decision was taken with the agreement of both the Nanjing Organizing Committee and the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), due to the ongoing pandemic conditions.”

The 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships have already been postponed twice. Originally the Championships were re-scheduled for 2021 and then again to Spring 2023 due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in China.

A frustrating development for Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, who said the decision was made to give the athletes and the members of the international federations time to prepare for the event.

“We’re disappointed that we have had to postpone this event again due to circumstances beyond our control, but we have done so to give certainty to athletes and Member Federations preparing for the 2023 competition season.”

“Unfortunately, the timeframe will prevent us from relocating the 2023 event, but the indoor championships will return in 2024 in Glasgow.”

“We have offered Nanjing the 2025 edition because we are mindful of the substantial preparations the local organizing committee has already done to host the event and we want to avoid potential financial losses for all parties.”

The next edition of the World Indoor Championships will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from March 1-3, 2024.