Monaco, JJul 31 (IANS): World Athletics has announced new dates for the World U20 Championships Nairobi 2020 and the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Minsk 2020 which were earlier postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The World U20 Championships will now be held from August 17 to 22, 2021, one week after the Tokyo Olympic Games. Under the competition's rules, athletes aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on December 31, 2021 will be eligible to compete.

The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships have been rescheduled for April 23-24, 2022 in Minsk, Belarus.

The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Yangzhou 2022 have also had a small date change, moving back one week, from March 20, 2022, to March 27, 2022.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: "The disruption caused by the global pandemic has made it more difficult to schedule international events over the next two years but we want to give as much certainty as we can to our athletes, member federations, host cities and partners."

"We have done our best to choose dates that we believe are achievable and offer the best chance for our athletes and event hosts to shine on the international stage," he added.