China News Service, New York, June 24. The organizer announced the cancellation of the 50th New York Marathon this year due to concerns that it may increase the risk of spreading the new coronary pneumonia epidemic.
The non-profit organization New York Road Runners, which hosts the New York City Marathon, issued a statement on the same day announcing the decision. The statement said that in order to ensure the safety of contestants, volunteers, staff and related communities, the event organizer and the New York City Government jointly decided to cancel this year's competition. This is the second time the event has been cancelled since its establishment in 1970; in 2012 New York City was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and the event was cancelled for the first time.
The New York Marathon is generally held in November each year and is one of the world marathon grand slam events. It is also the marathon with the largest number of participants in the world, with more than 53,000 completed in 2019.
The statement said that the New York City Marathon is a very important part of New York City. It is regrettable to cancel the race; but for health and safety reasons, this decision has to be made. New York City Mayor Bai Sihao said that the New York City Marathon is an iconic large-scale event in New York City and is loved by the public. The organizers put people's health and safety first, and he welcomed it. New York City looks forward to the 50th New York Marathon in 2021.
"New York Road Runners" said that registered players will receive detailed information in the next few weeks, they can choose to refund the full amount, or choose to participate in the New York Marathon in the next three years.
The New York Times reported that Michael Capiraso, the head of the “New York Road Runner”, said that he had always hoped for the event to be held as scheduled, but all kinds of information now show that the risk of holding the game is higher. Health experts pointed out that before the spread of special drugs and vaccines against new coronary pneumonia, any large-scale global events faced a very high risk of epidemic transmission.
Due to the massive outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic in the United States, many major sports events such as the American Basketball Association (NBA), the Major League Soccer (NFL) and the Major League Baseball (MLB) have been severely affected. According to media reports, the NBA has reported that at least three players have tested positive for the new crown virus; the NFL requires teams to only be able to train on their own grounds, prohibiting joint training between teams; MLB will start the game in late July, but to prevent viruses Some measures have been taken, including the cancellation of caddy.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there are currently nearly 2.35 million people infected with New Coronavirus in the United States, with more than 120,000 deaths and about 648,000 recovered. (Finish)