Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships schedule will favor double bids
Next year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest will last for nine days - one less than the last five editions of this event - and will favor athletes seeking double bids.
Popular doubles such as the 100m/200m, 800m/1500m, 1500m/5000m, 5000m/10,000m, 20km/35km race walk, women's long jump/triple jump and women's 200m/400m have all been made possible with athletes attempting them not having to contest more than one round in any given session.
The 2023 World Championships schedule - from August 19 to 27 - will involve 49 disciplines including six road events which will be spread across five separate mornings.
All track and field finals will be contested in the evening sessions, with at least four finals scheduled every day, even on the first day.
The final two days will feature eight medal events and both will end with women's relays.
And, as has been the case at recent major championships, the mixed and single-sex 4x400m finals are held either side of the individual one-lap disciplines to allow athletes to partake in both relays and individual disciplines should they so desire.
The first evening session will end with the mixed 4x400m final.
The men's 100m will be in the spotlight on the second day, while the women's 100m takes center stage on day three.
The women's 1500m will be one of four finals held on day four.
The men's 400m hurdles will conclude the action on day five.
Both 35km race walk finals will be held on the morning of day six and there will be no rest on the seventh day, as both 200m finals will conclude the evening session.
The women's marathon starts on the penultimate day, which will later include the men's pole vault and both 4x100m finals.
The men's marathon will be held on the morning of the final day and the championships will end with both 4x400m finals.
"The release of the timetable is a significant milestone for the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, now less than a year away," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.
"After seeing the extraordinary crowds that descended on Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games and Munich for the European Championships in the last month, we know the appetite for our sport across Europe is as strong as ever and we're looking forward to taking our premier event to central Europe for the first time.
"Creating the timetable for an outdoor World Championships is a complex balancing act, taking into account the needs of athletes, broadcasters and the host city, as well as our other stakeholders.
"I’m confident that a return to a nine-day programme and evening-only finals in the stadium will be embraced by our athletes and audience in Budapest, and by those watching around the world."
Peter Deutsch, chief executive of the Budapest 2023 local organising committee, added: "We have created a schedule that best serves the interests of the athletes, including Hungarian athletes and the audience.
"There will be a lot of competitions late in the evening because that will be the right weather for the athletes.
"Every night there will be great excitement, there will be finals, and every night there will be Hungarians in the field for the home fans to cheer on.
"Our aim is for the World Championships to strengthen Hungarian athletics, to achieve the best results and to make this wonderful sport as popular as possible."
Tickets are due to go on sale in late 2022.
posted Saturday August 27th
by Mike Rowbottom