FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World Athletics Council makes key decisions on Olympic cross country,
Russian Federation and future competition dates
The World Athletics Council has today confirmed the competition format for
a cross country event to be included in the Olympic Games.
The event, which has been proposed for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, would
be a mixed team relay for 15 countries.
Each team would be composed of two men and two women. Each member of the
team would run two legs of the 2.5km course, alternating between male and
female athletes as each athlete completes the 2.5km course and hands over
to a teammate.
World Athletics will meet with the Paris 2024 organising committee in the
near future to work out further details of the proposal.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he was delighted at the
prospect of cross country returning to the Olympic Games 100 years after it
last appeared at the 1924 Paris Games.
"My love for athletics began with cross country," he said.
"When I joined my first athletics club, Hallamshire Harriers, the club
president was Joe Williams, who ran in the last Olympic cross country race
in Paris in 1924. It would be hugely symbolic for this wonderful athletic
discipline to return to the fold after a century, and for a new generation
of runners to fall in love with the glorious challenge of running
off-piste."
World Athletics Council resolves to expel RusAF if payments not received by
15 August
The World Athletics Council also decided to expel the Russian Federation
(RusAF) from membership of World Athletics if it does not make the
outstanding payments of a $US5 million fine and $US1.31 million in costs
before 15 August.
The Council, meeting by teleconference due to the ongoing global Covid-19
pandemic, agreed to follow the recommendations of the Taskforce, delivered
by chairperson Rune Andersen in his report today.
Addressing the Council, Andersen expressed his disappointment that the
Taskforce had seen "very little in terms of changing the culture of Russian
athletics" in the past five years.
He said the Taskforce had spent "an enormous amount of time and effort
trying to help RusAF reform itself and Russian athletics, for the benefit
of all clean Russian athletes" but the response from RusAF had been
inadequate.
In light of a letter sent to World Athletics by the Russian Minister of
Sport Oleg Matytsin today, which promises payment of the overdue amounts by
August 15, the Council decided to recommend to Congress to expel RusAF from
membership of World Athletics, but to suspend the decision.
However this decision will come into effect immediately and automatically
if RusAF does not meet the following conditions:
1. Payment in full of the two outstanding RusAF invoices to be received on
or before close of business in Monaco on 15 August 2020.
2. The RusAF Reinstatement Commission to provide the draft plan referenced
in the third paragraph of Council's decision of 12 March 2020 – of suitable
scope and depth, with an implementation plan and progress indicators – to
the Taskforce on or before 31 August 2020.
3. Any changes required by the Taskforce to the draft plan to be
incorporated to the Taskforce's satisfaction on or before 30 September
2020.
4. The plan to be brought into effect and satisfactory progress achieved
against the plan (as determined by the Taskforce, based on the input of the
international experts appointed by World Athletics), as reported by the
Taskforce to Council at each of its subsequent meetings.
New dates set for World Athletics Series events postponed due to the global
Covid-19 pandemic
On the first day of the meeting, the Council approved new dates for the
World U20 Championships Nairobi 2020 and the World Athletics Race Walking
Team Championships Minsk 2020.
The World U20 Championships will now be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 17 to
22 August, 2021, one week after the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Under the competition's rules, athletes aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on 31
December, 2021 will be eligible to compete.
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships have been rescheduled
for 23-24 April, 2022 in Minsk, Belarus.
The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Yangzhou 2022 have also had
a small date change, moving back one week, from 20 March, 2022, to 27 March
2022.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said: "The disruption caused by the
global pandemic has made it more difficult to schedule international events
over the next two years but we want to give as much certainty as we can to
our athletes, Member Federations, host cities and partners. We have done
our best to choose dates that we believe are achievable and offer the best
chance for our athletes and event hosts to shine on the international
stage."
Bathurst requests alternative dates
World Athletics also updated the Council on conversations with organisers
of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 2021 to explore
alternative dates for the event.
This is due to ongoing travel and gathering restrictions resulting from the
global COVID-19 pandemic and the measures currently implemented within
Australia to contain it. This includes the closure of Australia's
international borders.
World Athletics will work closely with all stakeholders in Australia to
explore the feasibility of other dates. At this time the event remains in
the calendar for 20 March 2021.
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