The New York City Marathon will not take place as planned on Sunday, Xinhua reported.
The annual race is one of the world's most popular sporting events.
New York City has canceled it because the U.S. Northeast is still struggling to recover from heavy flooding and power outages caused by superstorm Sandy.
Four days after Sandy slammed the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, reports say the death toll has passed 100. And millions were still without electricity across the region.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed the cancellation of the Marathon on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the Mayor said the New York City Marathon would go on as scheduled despite storm-related objections.
The decision drew wide criticism. Public opinion in the past few days had turned against the mayor, saying it was inappropriate to run the race in a city still reeling from the storm.
Reports say people angered by the marathon plans had set up online petitions calling for runners to boycott the 26-mile race, or to run backward from the starting line in protest.
Meanwhile, fuel panic grows in New York City.
Acute gasoline shortages led to long lines and short tempers across the region.
The U.S. government sought to ease the fuel crunch, saying it would buy fuel, provide emergency responders with diesel from national reserves, and allow foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico to bring fuel to the region.
More subway and rail lines started operating again Friday.
But reports say over 3.8 million homes and business in the East were still without power.
Before pounding the U.S., Hurricane Sandy had left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, killing at least 69 people.
UN agencies said in Haiti alone, about 1.8 million people were affected.