Coronavirus: US Track and Field calls for 2020 Olympics to be postponed

Federation has penned a formal letter asking the International Olympic Committee to delay the Games

The governing body of American athletics, USA Track and Field (USATF), has called for the 2020 Olympics to be postponed.

The federation penned a letter to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief executive Sarah Hirshland formally calling for the Games’ postponement, with athletes unable to prepare effectively due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We certainly understand the ramifications of this request, and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc, but the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes (as difficult as that decision might be),” USATF Chief Executive Max Siegel said in the letter.

US Olympic Sport and USA swimming have both already called for Tokyo 2020, originally scheduled to begin on 24 July, to be postponed.

A number of athletes have criticised the International Olympic Committee’s decision to remain “fully committed” to the Games going ahead as planned, with British heptathlon world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson highlighting the impracticality of preparing for the event under current coronavirus safety measures.

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“The IOC advice ‘encourages athletes to continue to prepare for the Olympic Games as best they can’ with the Olympics only four months away,” she wrote on Twitter.

”But the government legislation is enforcing isolation at home with tracks, gyms and public spaces closed. I feel under pressure to train and keep the same routine which is impossible.”