Chances for Indian athletes to compete at IAAF World Indoor Championships in March are all but over

The chances of elite Indian track and field athletes competing at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, scheduled to be held in Belgrade from March 18-20, are all but over.

The Asian Indoor Championships in Nur Sultan from February 11-13, a qualifying event for the World Indoors, has been postponed due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the region. CV Valson, competition director of the Asian Athletics Association, confirmed the news on Monday.

Nur Sultan is the third continental competition that has been postponed due to the pandemic this year. According to Valson, the Asian Indoors will now be held in October or November.

“It is disappointing for several athletes as they were looking forward to competing at Asian Indoor in Nur Sultan for a qualification mark for the World Indoor,” Valson told Sportskeeda over the phone from Bangkok.

“Asian Indoor meet was a good chance for young athletes to prove themselves before the outdoor season starts,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Asian athletics body was forced to postpone the Asian Youth Championships in Kuwait and the Asian Cross Country in Nepal because of Omicron crises in the Asian region.

The postponed Asian Youth Athletics Championships was scheduled to be held in Kuwait from March 1-4. The Asian Cross Country Championship, meanwhile, was supposed to be held in Nepal on March 12 as per the Asian athletics calendar.

The 2021 Asian athletics calendar was also disrupted due to escalating COVID-19 cases. There was hope activities would resume in 2022. However, the new variant of COVID-19 has put Asian competitions on hold until March.

According to Valson, the Asian outdoor season will commence from May.

“We have a series of Asian Grand Prix starting from May in Thailand," he said. "We will also introduce relay events from this year. I hope the situation will improve by then."