THE IAU Congress and 100km World Championships have been cancelled ©IAU

The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) has announced its Congress and 100 kilometres World Championships have been cancelled.

Both events were due to take place in Winschoten in The Netherlands, with racing scheduled for September 12.

They are the latest sporting events to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There are strict travel restrictions in place across the globe and mass gatherings have been banned in many countries in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Training is also difficult for many athletes at present, with multiple Governments telling people to leave their homes only for essential travel.

There have been more than 64,000 COVID-19 deaths to date.

People in The Netherlands have been urged to stay at home despite warm weather ©Getty Images
People in The Netherlands have been urged to stay at home despite warm weather ©Getty Images

"Even if the situation eases before September, any capability for international participation would be considerably reduced", said a statement from the IAU Council.

"First and foremost we had to consider the health and well-being of our athletes, officials and spectators in making this decision."

The IAU Council added it was working on arranging future dates for both elections and the Congress.

The 2018 100km World Championships were held at Sveti Martin na Muri in Croatia.