THERE will be at least one final in all of the morning sessions during the track and field programme at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, the IAAF announced yesterday.
After earlier announcing a return to the format that was last used at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea, it was confirmed yesterday with the publishing of the track and field schedule for the Games that will be held August 12-21 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
“All five road events — the two marathons and the three race walk events — will be held in the morning sessions, although both 20km race walks will be in the early afternoon,” the release from the IAAF said.
“Other morning finals include the women’s 10,000m, men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase, men’s 400m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s and women’s discus, and the women’s hammer.”
The rationale for the change was “having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones”, IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy was quoted as saying.
“Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee,” Hardy’s quote went on.
– Paul Reid
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Some Rio track and field finals set for morning sessions — IAAF
