Christy Yiu Kit-ching is struggling to find a race to qualify for Tokyo 2020 ©HKRun

The Hong Kong Marathon has been postponed to October 2021 due to coronavirus concerns - leaving one of the country’s top long-distance runners facing a race against time to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Christy Yiu Kit-ching had planned to use her home race - which had been scheduled for January 24 2021- as a qualifier for the next year’s delayed Olympics.

But after calling off the 2020 edition of the race because of the outbreak of COVID-19, organisers have now postponed the 2021 event to October 24.

Yiu, who took part in the women’s marathon at Rio 2016, has until May 31 2021 to secure her place at Tokyo 2020, but is struggling to find a race as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc to the sporting calendar.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Yiu had hoped to race in Guangzhou and Macau only to be turned down.

Since 2019, the 32-year-old has competed just once when she narrowly missed out on one of the five Olympic qualifying spots, coming sixth at Gold Coast Marathon in Australia.

"My current world ranking is not good enough to help me make it to the Games next summer and if I can’t find a race and get a good result, I won’t be able to take part in the Olympics," said Yiu.

The Hong Kong Marathon was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 race has now been postponed to October ©Getty Images
The Hong Kong Marathon was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 race has now been postponed to October ©Getty Images

It is understood organisers of the 2021 Hong Kong Marathon had looked to stage competition in April before moving it to October due to the coronavirus situation in the country and to avoid the summer heat.

The decision has reportedly gained the backing of authorities, including the police.

Hong Kong has registered more than 6,800 cases and 112 deaths from COVID-19, with health officials recently warning over an "explosive outbreak" following 101 new infections.

Kwan Kee, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates, is hopeful the coronavirus situation will improve by the time they host the race next year.

"We have now set a date for the 2021 event but the pandemic situation in Hong Kong is still a concern," said Kwan.

"We hope it will improve gradually and our everyday lives can return to normal by the time we hold the event in October."

The event is claimed to attract in excess of 70,000 local and overseas participants each year.

Runners can participate in three different events - 10 kilometres, half-marathon and the full marathon.