The World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 2020 championships were set to be held from March 13-15 but World Athletics have pushed them back 12 months. 

The governing body received advice from the World Health Organisation and declined offers from other cities who were willing to become hosts. 

The epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak is in the Chinese city of Wuhan which is 370 miles from Nanjing. 

The World Athletics statement said: "The advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organisation, is that the spread of the coronavirus both within China and outside the country is still at a concerning level and no one should be going ahead with any major gathering that can be postponed.

"We have chosen not to cancel the championships as many of our athletes would like this event to take place, so we will now work with our athletes, our partners and the Nanjing organising committee to secure a date in 2021 to stage this event."

Other events which have been postponed or cancelled due to the virus include the women's Olympic football qualifiers, the tennis Fed Cup, and GB's Olympic basketball qualifiers.