NEW YORK – USA Track and Field, the governing body of American athletics, on Saturday called for a postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The federation, in a letter to United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief executive Sarah Hirshland, asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Games which are scheduled to run from July 24 to August 9 later this year.
"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.
The US track and field federation joined another leading US Olympic sport, USA Swimming, in seeking a delay to the Games.
A number of sporting events around the world have already been affected due to the spread of the coronavirus.