Athletics New Zealand has received confirmation that the 2020 World Mountain Running Championships, scheduled to be held 13-14 November in Lanzarote, Spain, have been cancelled.
This is due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the uncertainty of the situation in Spain with an increasing number of active cases.
“It is of course a difficult thing to take away the World Championships this year but in the end the decision to do it was not difficult,” says Jonathan Wyatt, World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) President.
“We have to make sure that our sports event does not contribute to any sort of worsening of the global pandemic we are facing and we have not seen a big enough improvement to take away these doubts.
“We do feel sorry we cannot provide a competition in 2020 for our athletes and their chance to shine on a world stage. It is regrettable that our mountain running community cannot meet and share the experiences together that we have grown to love over the past 36 years of WMRA competitions.
“We encourage every mountain runner to enjoy running while respecting safe social distancing practices and the regulations in your area.”
As a result of this cancellation, the current Selection Policy has been made null and void and Applications for Selection for this competition have been closed.
Please direct any queries regarding the cancellation of the World Mountain Running Championships to Athletics NZ High Performance Programme Administrator Brianna Maynard at brianna@athletics.org.nz