Athletics South Africa (ASA) on Wednesday announced provisional fixtures for the upcoming 2021 season.

The sport has been somewhat on hold after the 2020 season was severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the changes to the domestic fixtures list, are the 2021 ASA Senior Track and Field Championships which have been brought forward to 16-18 April.

This will ensure that ASA can select the best possible team for the 2021 World Relays to be held in Silesia, Poland on 1-2 May, where national sprint squads will get their opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

"We are happy to have been able to work on and release the calendar for the 2021 season which is, however, largely still depended on the constant review and guidance of the national government as we all continue to monitor the ongoing status of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and to appropriately respond to it," said President of ASA, Aleck Skhosana.

"The release of the fixtures will greatly assist planning for athletes and their coaches towards the respective competitions. Ongoing clarity will be given as the need arises in accordance with the health reviews on Covid-19 by the Department of Health."

Other key events on the preliminary domestic calendar include the U18 and U20 Track & Field Championships to be held in Paarl, Western Cape between 8-11 April 2021.

The inaugural ASA National Primary Schools Track and Field Championships at Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal that will be held from 23-24 April 2021.

On the road, fixtures include the Durban 10km CityRun on 10 July 2021 incorporating the ASA 10km Championships, the Nelson Mandela Bay Half-Marathon on 1 May 2021 which incorporates the ASA Half-Marathon Championships and the Cape Town Marathon on 17 October 2021 incorporating the ASA Marathon Championships.

Aside from the World Relays and the Tokyo Olympics, the international calendar also includes the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China to be held between 19-21 March 2021.

The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to be hosted in Minsk, Belarus on 23-24 April 2021 and the World U-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya which will be hosted from 17-22 August 2021.

With the World Athletics Cross Country Championships having been postponed until further notice, ASA will host the National Cross Country Trials on 6 January with the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday, 18 September still to be reviewed once the updated international athletics calendar is released.

- Compiled by Sport24 staff

Source: News24