Asian Games in China postponed because of spread of COVID-19

Beijing, May 6 (BNA): Less than three months after Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the Olympic Council of Asia said on Friday that this year’s Asian Games in China have been postponed due to concerns about the spread of the omicron type of COVID-19 in the country.

OCA said it did not set new dates but said they would be announced “in the near future” after talks with local organizers and the Chinese Olympic Committee, according to the Associated Press.

The Asian Games were scheduled to take place from September 10-25 in the eastern city of Hangzhou and would feature more than 11,000 athletes – more than the typical Summer Olympics. The last edition was in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The World University Games, another major multi-sport event, has been postponed, organizers said Friday.

It was scheduled to be held last year but was postponed to 2022. This year it was scheduled to take place from June 26 to July 7 in the western city of Chengdu. It is believed that about 6,000 athletes participated.

The Swiss-based International University Athletic Union, which runs the games, said they would take place in 2023, but did not give a date or details.

Both events were expected to take place using the “closed-loop” system that was in place at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

It has kept athletes and the media isolated from the general population of Beijing and required daily tests and frequent temperature checks for all involved.

The Winter Olympics was a relatively small event with only 2,900 athletes participating. The Winter Paralympics numbered about 700 people.

The spread of the omicron variant and the lockdowns in Shanghai and Beijing appear to have made holding both events impossible, even though organizers said just a few weeks ago that both events would continue.

The OCA also announced that the Asian Youth Games, which were scheduled to be held from December 20-28 in Shantou, China, will be cancelled.

The Youth Games, which have already been postponed once, will take place in 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

China is sticking to a strict “coronavirus-free” policy even as many other countries ease restrictions and see if they can live with the virus.

China on Friday reported a total of 4,628 new cases of COVID-19, the vast majority of which were asymptomatic and detected in Shanghai, China’s largest city which is located about 177 kilometers (110 miles) east of Hangzhou.

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