Coronavirus: the Paris marathon postponed to October 18 - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The Paris marathon, scheduled for April 5, which has about 60,000 registered, is postponed to October 18 due to the epidemic of coronavirus, said Thursday the organizer Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) in a statement to AFP.

The Paris half-marathon, canceled last Saturday on the eve of the start and also organized by ASO, is rescheduled on September 6.

"Immediately after the cancellation of the Harmonie Mutuelle Semi de Paris 2020 which imposed itself on us less than twenty-four hours before the start, the teams from the Paris City Hall and Amaury Sport Organization mobilized and every effort has been made to find a date to postpone the event, notes ASO in a press release. We are happy to announce that Harmonie Mutuelle Semi de Paris 2020 will take place on Sunday, September 6. "

"With regard to the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris, and in order to avoid a late cancellation which would penalize competitors, we have also, by mutual agreement with the Paris City Hall, decided to postpone the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris to October 18 ".

The queen race of 42.195 km, which covers the emblematic places of the capital (departure on the Champs-Elysées, Opera, Bastille, Bois de Vincennes, Notre-Dame, Eiffel Tower, Bois de Boulogne), cannot therefore take place as as usual in the spring, but more than six months later.

The running show, now "Run experience", planned at the Paris Exhibition Center from April 2 to 4 on the sidelines of the race, is also postponed and will take place from October 15 to 17.

The Paris marathon, one of the flagship sporting moments of the year in the French capital, is thus added to the list of sporting events shaken by the new coronavirus, while France has Thursday 423 cases of contamination and 7 deaths since January.

Saturday, the government had recommended the cancellation of the events "gathering more than 5.000 people in confined space", or gatherings "in open environment when they lead to mixtures with populations coming from zones where the virus circulates possibly".

© 2020 AFP