Paris Marathon becomes latest sporting event to be called off over COVID-19 fears

This year’s Paris marathon has been cancelled because it is impossible to hold the race during the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said on Wednesday. The race through the French capital, moved from its original date of 5 April to 15 November, joins a long list of elite marathons across the world to be cancelled this year. “Faced with the difficulty that many runners, especially those coming from abroad, had in making themselves available for the 15th November, it was decided that it would be better and simpler for those concerned if we organised the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris in 2021,” organisers said. The marathons in New York, Boston, Chicago and Berlin have been scrapped this year and London announced that it would only hold a race for elite runners because organisers say it would be unsafe for 45,000 runners to compete. A contest between Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, the first man to break the two-hour barrier, and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele will take place on a bio-secure closed course in London and Kenya’s defending champion Brigid Kosgei will headline the women’s field.