FUZHOU -- The 18th Gymnasiade (World School Summer Games) wll be postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International School Sport Federation (ISF) announced Wednesday.

The 18th Gymnasiade, planned from 16 to 23 October 2021 in Jinjiang, east China's Fujian province, will be rescheduled to 26 November to 3 December 2022, according to a joint statement by ISF, the China School Sports Federation and the 18th Gymnasiade Executive Committee.

All organizing parties are considering the safety of the young athletes and all persons involved as a top priority, according to the joint statement.

In 2017, Jinjiang won the bid to host the 18th Gymnasiade, an international multisport event for teens organized by the ISF.

The event was originally scheduled for October 2020. In August 2020, ISF decided to delay the event to October 2021 due to the global spread of COVID-19.

The biennial event, also known as the World School Summer Games, was initiated in Germany in 1974.