Qatar world athletics countdown begins as fears surface

DOHA: In the controversy surrounding Qatar’s 2022 football World Cup, it’s almost forgotten that in exactly one year Doha will host its biggest sporting event to date, the World Athletics Championships. On September 27, 2019, the planet’s best athletes will congregate in Qatar’s capital for 10 days for the premier track and field competition of the season.

It will be the first time the event is held in the Middle East.

For the athletes it represents a golden chance of glory; for Qatar the championships are an opportunity to directly address its many critics to show it deserves to host global sporting events.

“All the big pieces are in place,” International Association of Athletics Federation vice-president -- and Qatari -- Dahlan Al Hamad assured this week.

Qatar will hold a one-yearto-go event at the championships venue, the refurbished and airconditioned Khalifa International Stadium, on Thursday. However, the omens are not good.

Before a spike has touched the track, Qatar has been widely criticised for having the event shifted to late September and early October because of concerns over the desert state’s weather. All previous nine world championships held this century begun in August. Temperatures in Doha this week still reached highs of 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit).

Accordingly, organisers have announced the marathons will be held at midnight and traditional morning sessions scrapped.