National event in Manchester now set to take place on August 8-9

The Müller British Athletics Championships now looks set to take place in August, with dates of August 8-9 being reported for the national event in Manchester.

British Athletics has been contacted for confirmation, with an announcement due shortly.

The event had originally been scheduled for June 20-21 and would have incorporated the trials for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Following postponement of the Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the hope now is that the British Championships can be held in August and for the event to still incorporate the trials for the European Championships, currently due to take place on August 25-30 in Paris.

Last month European Athletics announced that the feasibility of the European Championships taking place would be reviewed.

“The executive board received an update on the current preparations from the LOC (local organising committee), which reported that their work has been severely compromised by France’s national shutdown of non-essential activities in response to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic,” said European Athletics at the time.

“While preparations for Paris 2020 continue fully as planned and according to schedule, a study of possible alternative scenarios for hosting was requested, including potential postponement, and taking into account all the stakeholder opinions including those of partners, athletes as well as related national and local government authorities in France.”

More to follow…