Eugene, Paris Diamond League races paused

Beatrice Chepkoech on her way to winning the steeplechase at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris (Jean-Pierre Durand) © Copyright

PARIS, France, Apr 23 – The organisers of athletics’ Diamond League on Thursday postponed meetings in the US city of Eugene and in Paris in June as the season is pushed further back by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Eugene meeting had been due to take place on June 7 with Paris on June 13.

“As with previous suspensions, this decision was reached in close consultation with all relevant parties and based on concerns over athlete safety as well as widespread travel restrictions which make it impossible to stage the competitions as planned,” the organisers said in a statement.

But the Bislett Games in Oslo, one of the longest-standing meetings on the international calendar, will take place on June 11, albeit in a different format from the Diamond League meeting originally planned on that date.

The event will be “an alternative athletics competition under Norwegian coronavirus regulations”, organisers said.

The Diamond League said new dates for the suspended events “will be announced… as soon as the extraordinary global situation makes a reliable plan possible”.

The next Diamond League meeting remaining on the calendar is London on July 4.

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