The Asian Athletics Association has announced the postponement of the (U20) Asian Junior Championships until 2023. The event was due to be hosted in South Korea in June 2022.
Because of the health concerns surrounding the world’s Covid-19 situation, the move was made to hold back the event until next year.
Safety and health were key factors in determining the postponement after the Korea Association of Athletics Federation had stated concerns over hosting the event this year as planned.
More calendar changes
The (U20) Asian Junior Championships is not the only event in Asian athletics affected by postponement or cancellation this year.
The 10th Asian Indoor Athletic Championship, for example, scheduled for mid-February 2022 in Kazakhstan, has also been postponed, having also been moved back to 2023.
In early January, the Asian Marathon Championship in Thailand was cancelled, as well as the March Cross Country Championships. It leaves the next big date for Asian athletics being the World Indoor Championships hosted in Belgrade, Serbia, from March 18th – 20th, 2022.
2022 is still a big year for athletes
Even with the disruption to the calendar, 2022 remains set to be a big year. There is the World Athletic Championship in Eugene, Oregon, USA to come in the summer, from July 15th to 24th.
The Asian Games remain scheduled as planned. They are being hosted in Hangzhou China, from September 16th to 22nd. The junior stars will also get their chance to shine later in the year.
Scheduled into the 2022 athletics calendar is the 19th World Junior Athletic Championship. It will be hosted in Cali, Colombia, from August 2nd – 7th, 2022. Before that, Sri Lanka aims to go ahead with the South Asian Junior Athletic Championship in mid-May.