National Athletics Championship postponed to late December

Track and field sports is likely to conclude a year without competitions as Sri Lanka Athletics decided to postpone their flagship event, the National Championship to the final week of December, subjected to clearance from health authorities due to the Covid 19 pandemic. 

The Junior National Athletics Championship and the National Championship were the only remaining annual events to be held later this year after the cancellation of all other track and field events due to the pandemic.  

The sport’s governing body announced on Saturday that the National Championship which was to commence on December 5 had been postponed to late December. It also announced the cancelation of the Junior National Championship which was scheduled for November 21, 22 and 28. 

Sri Lanka Athletics has now rescheduled the National Championship to 26,27, 28 and 29 but the health situation of the country will be assessed before going ahead with the championship. 

Top national athletes were eagerly waiting to compete at the annual event after an entire season of local and international competitions were lost due to the pandemic.  

The cancelation of the National Championship will deny the local athletes an opportunity to earn positions in the World Athletics rankings which will affect their chances of reaching qualifying standards for the postponed Tokyo Olympics. (RF)