After the postponement of the 2022 Asian Games, China has had to cancel the Diamond League meets scheduled for this year as well.
One of the events has now been moved to Poland as a result while the other one has been canceled outright as the country continues to battle the proliferation of Covid cases.
The meets were to take place in Shanghai on July 30th and Shenzhen on Aug. 6th but have been changed because of “travel restrictions and strict quarantine requirements currently in place for entry into China”, the organizers said in a statement on Friday.
Chorzow, Poland will play host to the Shenzhen event while there will be no replacement for the Shanghai meeting.
On Friday, the World University Games, slated for next month in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, were also postponed, while the Asian Youth Games in Shantou were canceled, with Tashkent to host the next edition in 2025.
“The Diamond League season calendar has been restructured to ensure fair and transparent competition as two meetings in China are now unable to go ahead as scheduled,” organizers said in a statement.
“The Diamond League looks forward to hosting events in China again from 2023 onwards.”
The new athletics season kicks off in Doha on May 13 and concludes in Zurich on Sept. 7 and 8.
