IAAF President Sebastian Coe is upbeat about Qatar putting up a very innovative and fans’ friendly IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at the majestic Khalifa International Stadium at Aspire Zone.
The 10-day championships, to be hosted in the Middle East region for a first time, will begin on September 27 and come to an end on October 6.
After an IAAF Council brief, Coe said, “Doha looks well prepared to host the IAAF World Athletics Championships. I spoke to Dahlan al Hamad today, my colleague from the Local Organizing Committee. My competition team is here and everything is in place.
“Now we are relying on athletes to do what they do really well. I hope that it will be spectacular and excite many more young people, particularly in Qatar, to be athletes,” he added.
“The Doha 2019 team has planned to incorporate many firsts in a bid to make it one of the most memorable experiences for both athletes and fans around the globe. Right from the split evening sessions to the midnight marathons and the mixed relays. From the green cooling technology to the LED lights. From the digital floodlights to delightful telecast moments. Everything is going to have you drop your jaws!”
The women’s marathon is slated for the opening day, while the men’s marathon would be held on October 5. Both races will take place against a stunning Corniche backdrop on a floodlight course with modern amenities to beat the heat, if it is there at all. While talking about things never before seen in the WCHs, Coe commented, “Very pleasing. I think there are lots of things we are going to do for the first time. The evening only sessions with the specific focus on field events. We have some of the biggest names in the combined events are all competing on the same day.
“The digital floodlights, the midnight marathons, mixed relays, cooling technology…. Everything is different. This is really good thing for our sport and Qatar has been given this opportunity for that,” he said.
Qatar has been organizing international athletics events for 21 years. It has the pride of launching the popular Diamond League season in Doha every year. Besides, it held the World Indoor Championships in 2010 and now the IAAF’s flagship championships – the second biggest single sport event in the world.
“There will be plenty of digital innovations during the championships. One of the attractiveness to our council of choosing Qatar was the digital innovations and the technology. Some of the new broadcast technology would be applied on these championships as well,” he said.
The IAAF chief was optimistic that Qatar would certainly raise the bar when you reflect on the 2019 WCH after it is over. “Every championship wants to look back and say it did something different and I hope Qatar would not be different.”
By Raajiv Tripathi
