The next World Athletics Championship which was supposed in 2021 has been moved to 2022.

The rescheduling was as a result of the Olympic Games which was shifted to 2021. Sports calendars around the world continue to suffer due to the current pandemic, forcing tournaments to be shifted to a later, unknown date.

Held every two years, the World Athletics Championship brings together almost 2000 athletes from around the world to compete in various athletic events.

Dubbed as the “Athletic Olympics” because it is the only event, next to the Olympics, that brings together athletes on such a large scale. The event started as a result of a slight disagreement between the IAAF and the IOC.

Postponing the event was in due consideration of the moved 2020 Olympics which would now hold in 2021, not later than summertime, as stated by the IOC.

After the Olympics, the WAC is the next big thing for athletes to look forward to, so it only makes sense to postpone it to allow athletes the opportunity to prepare adequately for that event.

The venue for the 2022 World Athletics Championship remains Oregon, USA, as assured by a World Athletics spokesperson but a new date has not been decided on, similarly to the Olympics. A lot of thing affects that, including giving time for athletes to qualify, which includes some other events that have also been postponed.

World Athletics stated that they were working with organisers of the event in Oregon to set a new date for the event which was initially scheduled to hold between the 6th and 15th of August.

They were also talking with the organisers of other athletics events in Europe, like the Commonwealth Games Federations, which has an event set for August 2022.

The new date would have to be one not clashing with any upcoming athletics or sporting event to give athletes time to prepare for the championship.

Written by: Leon Osamor