The World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China have been pushed back again until March 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event was originally scheduled to go ahead in March this year, but was postponed by 12 months.

Organisers have now confirmed the event will take place in 2023, a year after the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

World Athletics said in a statement: "It is with regret that we have agreed with the organisers of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing (19-21 March 2021) to postpone the event to March 2023.

"While we have been liaising with the organising committee and the Chinese Athletics Association to evaluate the staging over the past few weeks, given the current global situation, there is still significant uncertainty about the state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early part of 2021.

"For the safety of our athletes and technical officials, we must duly consider the risks in bringing a large group of people to attend the event under the pandemic situation and fully respect and carry out the pandemic prevention policy of the host country."

On rescheduling the event, the international athletics governing body added: "The indoor season for athletics falls within a narrow calendar window (up to the end of March) so it is not possible to extend the event to later in the year.

"We would like Nanjing to be the host of our World Indoor Championships given the extensive planning and preparation they have put into this event so have agreed they will stage the event one year after the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022."