Athletics SA releases fixtures for 2021 season
Although the development of the fight against Covid-19 will still have a major impact on events in the sports world in 2021, Athletics SA did prepare to return to a degree of normality in 2021 when they drafted the annual program.
With athletics starting to find some sort of stability after the 2020 season was severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Athletics South Africa has unveiled an updated provisional fixtures list for the 2021 season campaign.
Among the changes to the domestic fixtures list, are the 2021 ASA Senior Track and Field Championships, which have been brought forward to 16-18 April 2021.
This will ensure that ASA can select the best possible team for the 2021 World Relays to be held in Silesia, Poland on 1-2 May, where national sprint squads will get their opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Other key events on the preliminary domestic calendar include the ASA U.18 and U.20 Track & Field Championships to be held in Paarl, Western Cape between 8-11 April 2021, and the inaugural ASA National Primary Schools Track and Field Championships at Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal that will be held from 23-24 April 2021.
On the road, fixtures include the Durban 10km CityRun on 10 July 2021, incorporating the ASA 10km Championships, the Nelson Mandela Bay Half-Marathon on 1 May 2021, which incorporates the ASA Half-Marathon Championships and the Cape Town Marathon on 17 October 2021, incorporating the ASA Marathon Championships.
Aside from the World Relays and the Tokyo Olympics, the international calendar also includes the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China to be held between 19-21 March 2021, the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to be hosted in Minsk, Belarus on 23-24 April 2021 and the World U-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya which will be hosted from 17-22 August 2021.
With the World Athletics Cross Country Championships having been postponed until further notice, ASA will however host the National Cross-Country Trials on 6 January at a venue to be announced. ASA has tentatively put the National Cross-Country Championships on Saturday 18 September, but this date may be reviewed in order to align with the updated international calendar when it is released.
“We are happy to have been able to work on and release the calendar for the 2021 season which is, however, largely still depended on the constant review and guidance of the national government as we all continue to monitor the ongoing status of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and to appropriately respond to it,” said Aleck Skhosana, the President of ASA.
Skhosana expressed his hope that the release of the fixtures will greatly assist planning for athletes and their coaches towards the respective competitions.
He emphasized once again that ongoing clarity will be given as the need arises in accordance with the health reviews on Covid-19 by the Department of Health.
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