All you need to know about World Athletics Championship 2022

Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra will lead the Indian contingent a the event.

The World Athletics Championship 2022 is all set to kick-start on 15 July, 2022 in which athletes from around the globe participate. The event was initially supposed to happen in April 2021. However, it was forced to be postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

India will also send a strong contingent to the championship in a bid to grab some medals for the nation. But it will not be an easy job because of the level of competition expected in the highly-competitive event. So let us take a deep dive into everything related to the World Athletics Championship.

About the Tournament

This will be the 18th edition of the World Athletics Championship. It'll mark nearly 20 years since the competition first took place. This competition was initially held every four years since its inception in 1983, before the format changed in 1991.

Since then, it took place every two years. That's due to the World Athletics organizers deeming it necessary to keep its appeal in place, for both athletes and fans alike. The United States of America (USA) are the most decorated nation in the World Athletics Championship. They've won 381 medals in total – more than double of what any other nation has managed.

India, however, has had little luck when it comes to competing in this competition. Only one Indian athlete has ever won a medal (bronze medal) in this competition. That is something which the current crop of athletes will hope to change this year.

The Structure

There will be similar categories for both the Men’s and Women’s athletes in the World Athletics Championship, Both set of athletes will participate in a variety of events. These have been divided into three major categories – track sports, field sports as well as combined events.

The track events include: 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1500 metres, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres races as well as a Marathon race. There will also be events of 110 metres hurdles, 400 metres hurrldes, 300 metres steeplechase, 20 kilometres walk, 35 kilometres walk as well as the 4x100 metres relay and 4x400 metres relay.

The field events will be: High jump, Pole vault, Long Jump, Triple jump, Shot put, Discus throw, Javelin throw and Hammer throw. The combined event only includes one, which will be the Decathlon.

About Team India

The Athletics Federation of India has decided to send an athlete group of 22 members to represent the country in the World Athletics Championship. Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra will lead his contingent and aim to continue his good work.

There are, although, some notable absentees from the competition. Experienced discus thrower Seema Punia has decided to skip the World Athletics Championship. She wants to focus on the Commonwealth Championship later this year.

Race walker Bhawana Jat has also decided to abstain from participating in the tournament. Similarly, she also wants to focus on training for the Commonwealth Championship. As a result, only 5 female athletes will be making the trip for the competition.

Indian team

Men: Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase), MP Jabir (400m Hurdles), M Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Long Jump), Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel and Eldhose Paul (Triple Jump), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put), Neeraj Chopra and Rohit Yadav (Javelin Throw), Sandeep Kumar (20km Race Walking), Amoj Jacob (clearance subject to fitness), Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammed Ajmal, Naganathan Pandi, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Anas Yahiya (4x400m).

Women: S Dhanalakhsmi (200m), Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (400m), Parul Chaudhary (3000m Steeplechase), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw) and Priyanka Goswami (20km Walk).

When and Where will it take place?

The World Athletes Championship will take place from July 15-24. It will be held in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America. The events will take place at PST (Pacific Standard Time) which is 12-and-a-half hours behind IST (Indian Standard Time).

That means the events should start in the evening time in India and continue until early morning.

What to Expect?

India’s contingency are realistically not favoured to be among the teams vying for the first place. Historically, this competition has not been kind on India as they have only won one medal in its history. But that could be expected to change this time.

A lot of hopes will, of course, be on Neeraj Chopra to provide the goods. The Olympic gold winner will also be gunning for gold here. If not that, Chopra is heavily expected to at least bag the silver or bronze medal to add to India’s tally.

Along with that, keep an eye out on Long Jumper Murali Sreeshankar. The 23-year-old has slowly been making inroads in his event. Two of the top-five jump records in the world in 2022 belong to him. His highest-recorded jump this year has been an impressive 8.36m.

Sreeshankar is coming at the back of having won the Inter-State Athletics Championship last month. The 23-year-old athlete is riding high on form and might pull off a major upset, making him a dark horse in the category.

The live-action of the World Athletic Championships can be streamed on the Sony Liv app and website.

Schedule

20 KILOMETRES RACE WALK WOMEN - Priyanka - 1:40 AM - July 16

20 KILOMETRES RACE WALK MEN - Sandeep Kumar - 3:40 AM - July 16

3000 METRES STEEPLECHASE MEN - Avinash Sable - 6:15 AM - July 16

LONG JUMP MEN - Jeswin Aldrin - 6:30 AM - July 16

LONG JUMP MEN - Muhammed Anees Yahiya - 6:30 AM - July 16

LONG JUMP MEN - Murali Shreeshankar - 6:30 AM - July 16

SHOT PUT MEN - Tajinderpal Singh Toor - 7:25 AM - July 16

3000 METRES STEEPLECHASE WOMEN - Parul Chaudhary - 9:20 pm - July 16

400 METRES HURDLES MEN - Jabir Madari Palliyalil - 11:57 pm - July 16

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