World Track & Field Championships dates announced...
The Oregon World Championships were originally scheduled for August 6-15, 2021, but have been rescheduled to the following year to avoid a clash with the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport’s stakeholders including organizers of two other major championships due to take place in July-August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multi-sport 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 unprecedented 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," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.
"They will 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 centerpiece 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."
Niels de Vos, Executive Director of the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22, said: "I should like to thank Oregon’s stakeholders for committing so early to the postponement, allowing maximum flexibility on dates for our friends at World Athletics, just as they have been flexible with us in ensuring our plans can remain on track despite the 12 month postponement. Oregon 22, as we must now get used to calling it, will be kickstarting a global festival of international track and field championships in the summer of 2022 that will be a fantastic experience for athletes and fans alike."
“USATF worked diligently with all the key stakeholders to find a suitable date for rescheduling,” said USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel. “Postponing to 2022 will allow us even more time to prepare for the world’s best athletes to descend on Eugene, Oregon. We appreciate the alliance of all partners including World Athletics, the local organizing committee and the state of Oregon.”
World Athletics' release is available here, while USA Track & Field's release is available here.
OLYMPIC QUALIFYING PERIOD SUSPENDED UNTIL DECEMBER 1ST...
During this period, results achieved at any competition will not be considered for Tokyo 2020 entry standards or world rankings, the publication of which will also be suspended.
Results will continue to be recorded for statistical purposes, including for world records, subject to the applicable conditions. But they will not be used to establish an athlete’s qualification status.
Subject to the global situation returning to normal, the qualification period will resume on December 1, 2020 and continue to the new qualification deadline in 2021 set by the International Olympic Committee. The total qualification period, which started in 2019, will be four months longer than it was originally.
With the marathon teams already selected, the qualifying dates for every other event, including the walks and the multi-events resumes December 1st, and ends June 29, 2021.
World Athletics' release is available here.
NOTE: World Athletics, the University of Oregon and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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