The World Archery Field Championships 2020 in Yankton, USA, have been postponed until 2022. The decision is influenced by the COVID-19 threat.
This joint decision to delay was made to safeguard athlete wellbeing and due to restrictions still in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Archer has reported on its official website.
The event was due to take place in September this year at the NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Center, the largest dedicated archery facility in the world, which has previously hosted the world youth and world indoor championships.
The event was delayed by two years as the 2021 calendar is already packed due to the number of events already moved to 2021. Yankton is also due to host next year’s Hyundai World Archery Championships.
A separate qualification event will now be held for the World Field meet, likely in the summer of 2021, with more information made available at a later date.
The vote for the field archer representative to the athletes’ committee was also due to take place this year in Yankton. It will be delayed with the championships and committee chair Naomi Folkard will remain in post for the additional two years.
Yankton organising committee and NFAA Foundations president Bruce Cull said: “Making the choice to reschedule an event that so many archers are working hard towards is not easy. We want to host international tournaments that Yankton and the archery community can be proud of and this is just not possible at this time.
“We will now focus on scheduling a successful World Games qualification event in 2021 and look forward to the Games and championships in 2022.”
Recognition of national events, for the purposes of world records and performance awards, will resume on July 1.
National federations are being encouraged to organise competitions when possible and as long as they comply with local health regulations.
World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen said: “It is with huge regret that we delay the field championships but this decision had to be made in the current climate.”