By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ilorin – The World Athletics Championships in Oregon have been rescheduled to now hold from July 15 to July 24, 2022, following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to July 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
A statement on the website of the World Athletics, the athletics governing body, on Wednesday said that Oregon World Championships were originally scheduled for Aug. 6 to Aug. 15, 2021, but have been rescheduled to the following year to avoid a clash with the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
According to the statement, the World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport’s stakeholders, including organisers of two other major championships due to take place in July to August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multisport European Championships in Munich.
”The new schedule will prevent a direct conflict between any of these major events and, with careful programming, will ensure athletes can compete in up to three world-class competitions.
”In an extraordinary international season for athletics, all three events will be held across an unprecedent summer of sport.
”The World Championships will begin a unique celebration of the sport, followed by the Commonwealth Games and the European Athletics Championships as part of the European Championships.
“This will be a bonanza for athletics fans around the world,” the statement quoted World Athletics president Sebastian Coe as saying.
He added that athletics fans would be treated to six weeks of absolutely first-class athletics.
”More than 70 of our member federations are part of the Commonwealth and more than 50 of our member federations are European, so our guiding principle in rescheduling the World Championships was to ensure enough space was created around the centrepiece World Athletics Championship for athletes to choose other major events to compete in.
”We were also very mindful that we did not want to damage the other major championships in 2022, because they are also very important to our sport.
“We believe we have found a solution that will allow athletes who are eligible for the other two events to compete in them with the Commonwealth Games Federation planning to stage the athletics programme towards the end of their event.
”This will showcase our sport to its best advantage in the circumstances and we will continue collaborating with all competitions on the detailed programming.
“We would not have chosen to have three major championships back-to-back but it will give us a unique opportunity to promote our sport and its stars around the globe over a six-week period.
“I want to particularly thank Oregon 21 LLC and all its stakeholders for their collaboration and flexibility as well as all World Athletics’ partners and broadcasters who are so critical to delivering the Games and taking it into the homes of millions of fans,” Coe said.
(NAN)
