Asian 20km Race Walk Championships in Japan called off due to coronavirus threat

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What’s the story?

The Asian 20km Race Walk Championships is the latest sporting event to be cancelled due to the fatal coronavirus pandemic. The event, which was to see 13 Indian participants, was scheduled for March 15 in Japan.

In case you did not know

The Asian Race Walking Championships, established in 2006, is a race-walking contest for Asian athletes and is held every year in Japan. Bhawana Jat, who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was supposed to spearhead the Indian challenge in the event which was earlier scheduled to take place in Nomi city.

Heart of the matter

The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) passed the resolution to call off the championship after a plea from the Japan federation. The president of the AAA Council Dahlan Al Hamad said in a statement:

"After due consideration and approval from the AAA Council, I confirm that Asian 20km Race Walking Championships has been canceled. In view of the COVID-19, the Government of Japan has proposed for higher alert. All major events in the country has been cancelled or delayed. Japan Association of Athletics Federation has requested to cancel the Championships.”

What’s next?

This is the third key athletic event to be called off or postponed due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China. It remains to be seen if the COVID-19 can be brought under control soon so that the major tournaments lined up, including the Olympics, do not get affected.

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