The 2021 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing have been pushed back until 2023, athletics' international governing body has announced.
The event in China was scheduled to take place on 19-21 March next year, but has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
World Athletics said in a statement: "It is with regret that we have agreed with the organisers of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing (19-21 March 2021) to postpone the event to March 2023.
"Whilst we have been liaising with the Organising Committee and the Chinese Athletics Association to evaluate the staging over the last few weeks, given the current global situation, there is still significant uncertainty about the state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early part of 2021."
Athletics' indoor season falls within a narrow calendar window up until the end of March and it has not been possible to reschedule the 2021 event to later in the year, World Athletics said.
"We would like Nanjing to be the host of our World Indoor Championships given the extensive planning and preparation they have put into this event so have agreed they will stage the event one year after the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022," World Athletics added.
The World Indoor Tour, which includes 26 meetings spread across 12 countries from the end of January to the end of February next year, will continue, it was confirmed.
