World Athletics Championships: AFN plans early departure for contingent
To allow the athletes to acclimatise before the start of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 on September 27, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) intends to arrive early in Doha, Qatar for the global tournament.
Also, AFN is awaiting the final go-ahead from the world athletics ruling body to make public the final list of athletes that qualified for the championships.
According to the Technical Director of AFN, Sunday Adeleye, the federation is working tirelessly at ensuring that the continent departs the country to Doha early in order for the athletes to acclamatise with the weather in Qatar.
“We are excited that we now have more players making the qualification criteria for the championships. Our aim now is to ensure we arrive early in Doha so that the athletes can get used to the weather. Also, we are waiting on IAAF in order for us to make public the final list of athletes that will represent Nigeria at the tournament. We also hope to build on our performance at the just concluded African Games in Morocco. We are happy that all our athletes are in top form and we are hopeful of a good outing in Qatar,” Adeleye said.
The 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships, Doha 2019 will kick off on September 27 to October 6, 2019.
For 10 days, 24 different events will be held for male and female athletes and the 2019 edition will feature the IAAF World Championships’ first-ever midnight marathon, while a new format of the competition’s schedule sees all morning sessions removed and split evening sessions introduced for the first time with one-hour intervals to allow for entertainment and family activities.
The competition will also see the global debut of the first 4x400m mixed relay ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, British Athletics has announced a team of 72 athletes for the IAAF World Athletics Championships with sprinter Dina Asher-Smith heading the team to Doha.
Three of the four men on Britain’s gold-medal-winning 4x100m quartet from the 2017 World Championships – Adam Gemili, CJ Ujah, and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake – are on the team for Doha.
European champions Laura Muir, Zharnel Hughes, and Matthew Hudson-Smith are also on the team, alongside world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi and European indoor champion Shelayna Oskan-Clarke.