The European Athletics Athletes Committee which is chaired by Periklis Iakovakis from Greece has responded to the European Athletics Executive Board requesting the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships Local Organising Committee 'to carry out an immediate and detailed feasibility study for the event, which is currently scheduled for 25-30 August.' The full story can be found here.
The letter from the Athletes Committee reads as follows:
This morning (25), the European Athletics Athletes Committee held a teleconference with Renaud Lavillenie (World Athletics Athletes Commission) and Jean Gracia from Paris 2020 Local Organising Committee (LOC) as guests.
We are delighted to learn that there is a chance for the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships in Paris 2020 to go ahead. This has been a stressful and confusing period for athletes – we have lost our structure and our sense of normality. We join our larger communities in focusing on the health and well-being of everyone during the COVID-19 outbreak; to have the light at the end of the tunnel that Paris 2020 may still go ahead is something positive in these extremely hard times.
We support the decision to postpone the global Olympic Games and feel the chance to salvage some sort of summer season, however unusual, will be great for the long-term development of athletes and our competition structure and nurture high-performance levels of our European athletes in the months and years ahead.
We would like to formally support the proposal from the LOC of Paris 2020 to try and keep to the original dates for the championships. We do understand eventually this may still be disrupted by the current global pandemic. We would also like to thank Jean Gracia and his team for their efforts and dedication to this event.
Going forward, we think it is important to have clarity in the communication – it would be good to have publication of a final decision date if European Athletics and Paris 2020 LOC decide on one. The more information athletes can have – the better they will feel mentally.
As we are sure you agree, it is important that we stress to athletes that their health and the health of those around them is paramount; training comes second. We see these championships as an opportunity to celebrate the recommencement of our wonderful sport, even if preparation and training cannot be perfect for everyone.
The European Athletics Athletes Committee