COVID-19: World Athletics Championships Oregon rescheduled for July 2022

The World Athletics Championships in Oregon was rescheduled for July 15-24 in 2022, following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games for 2021 in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Oregon World Championships were originally scheduled for August 6 to 15, 2021, but have been rescheduled for the following year to avoid a clash with the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after elaborate discussions with the sport's stakeholders including organisers of two other major championships due to take place in July-August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multisport European Championships in Munich.

The new schedule will prevent a direct conflict between any of these major events and, with careful programming, will ensure athletes can compete in up to three world-class competitions.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the year 2022 will be a bonanza for athletics fans around the world.

"They will be treated to six weeks of absolutely first-class athletics. More than 70 of our Member Federations are part of the Commonwealth and more than 50 of our Member Federations are European so our guiding principle in rescheduling the World Championships was to ensure enough space was created around the centrepiece World Athletics Championship for athletes to choose other major events to compete in," Coe said.

Niels de Vos, Executive Director of the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22, said: "I should like to thank Oregon's stakeholders for committing so early to the postponement, allowing maximum flexibility on dates for our friends at World Athletics, just as they have been flexible with us in ensuring our plans can remain on track despite the 12 month postponement."

"Oregon 22, as we must now get used to calling it, will be kickstarting a global festival of international track and field championships in the summer of 2022 that will be a fantastic experience for athletes and fans alike," he said.