简体中文
The Tokyo Marathon organizers announced here on Monday that there will be no general public participation because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Organizers said in a statement that the event, which is scheduled on March 1 with 38,000 registered runners, will be held "only for the marathon elites and the wheelchair elites."
That means that those in the "general participants" category will not be permitted to run.
The statement said: "Now that a case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has been confirmed within Tokyo, we cannot continue to launch the event within the scale we originally anticipated."
It added that all registered runners are allowed to defer their entry to the event in 2021. For those who have already deferred their entry, especially those from China, they are required to pay the entry fees for the 2021 event.
It said that the entry fee and the donations received for this event will not be refunded.
The organizers announced last week that all registered runners living in China can withdraw from this year's race and run the 2021 event without paying any entry charges.
The decision was a shock for the marathon world because a total of 11 marathons were just held across Japan on Sunday.
The Tokyo Marathon doubles as a qualifier for the 2020 Games, and runners will be chasing the final spot on the men's Olympic marathon team. Japan men's marathon record holder Suguru Osako and past national record holder Yuta Shitara are among invitees to the race's elite category.
