Five events to watch out for at 2022 World Athletics Championships

There will be a plethora of world-class athletes at the biennial mega event.

The World Athletics Championships 2022 is set to begin from 15 July 2022 onwards until 24 July 2022. Best of the best track and field athletes will convene in Oregon, the USA for the prestigious multi-sport meet. For the first time ever, the championships are coming to the United States of America. 

Several participating nations will send their athletes in three major categories: track events, field events and combined events. Historically, the United States of America has finished top of the medal table on 13 occasions. It is also the leading nation with the most number of medals, winning 170 golds, 117 silvers and 94 bronze medals. 

India has only one medal to show for but will bank on its athletes to add to this tally during the 2022 edition. However, the competition is set to be intense when the multi-sport event starts in the city of Eugene. Here are the top-five events that one must watch out for at the 2022 World Athletics Championships:

Long Jump

When it comes to field events, the long jump is one of the most popular ones on the list. The standard to qualify for the World Athletics Championships was 8.22m. In 2019, Tajay Gayle of Jamaica won the gold with an 8.69 effort. This year, eyes will be on Simon Ehammer who has the leading jump of 8.45m this season.

There are hopes of a medal for India as well. Murali Sreeshankar holds the national record and made the season-best jump of 8.36m. He also won the 12th International Jumping Meeting in Kallithea, Greece with an 8.31m-jump. Jeswin Aldrin came fifth in that meet and will represent India at the championships as well. 

Mixed 4x400m relay

The mixed 4x400m relay event is one of the most exciting disciplines at the World Athletics Championships. It involves a team of both men and women which makes the competition very interesting. The event will take place on the first day.

One needs to watch out for teams like current Olympic gold medallists in Poland, the Dominican Republic and the hosts, the United States of America. The 4x400m relay event produces the biggest cheers from the spectators inside the stadium.

Javelin Throw

Javelin Throw will be one of the most viewed events at the World Athletics Championships. The credit for this goes to Neeraj Chopra who won the gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He became the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics. This has increased the sport’s popularity amongst the Indians by ten-folds.

He will hope to deliver India’s first-ever gold at the World Athletics Championships. However, he will face tough competition from the likes of Anderson Peters, who has a season-best throw of 93.07m.

Men’s 400m hurdles

One cannot miss the 400m hurdles final if it is anywhere close to being as entertaining as the final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Karsten Warholm of Norway broke his own world record to win gold with a time of 45.94. He became the first man in history to finish the event within 46 seconds!

USA’s Rai Benjamin and Brazil’s Alison dos Santos finished second and third respectively, also breaking Olympic records. Latter of the two from Brazil currently holds the best season timing of 46.80. With injuries hampering Warholm’s preparations, it will be interesting to see which of the three comes out on top in Oregon, USA. 

100m sprint race

There is no event more exhilarating than the 100m sprint race. Whether it is the men’s or women’s category, the excitement levels ahead of the event are off the charts. In the 2022 edition of the World Athletics Championships, USA’s Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell are strong favourites as they hold the top two season best timings at 9.76s and 9.81 respectively.

In the women’s 100m event, the legendary Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be a strong favourite ahead of her compatriots Shericka Jackson and Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah. These three will also team up for the 4x100m relay event for Jamaica as reigning Olympic champions.

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