Athletics Finals in 17 of 20 sessions for LA 28

MONACO (MON): “It is in the spirit of collaboration between World Athletics (WA), LA28, Olympic Broadcasting Services, IOC and NBC as Host Broadcaster that we have landed on an athletics programme that will start with a bang as our women’s sprinters take centre stage on day one and then the men’s sprinters on day two to maximise and sustain global interest after the Opening Ceremony,” commented World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in the WA statement after the Wednesday morning release of the LA28 session-by-session schedule. “Both our competition teams spent a lot of time speaking to the athletes, speaking to the coaches, and overwhelmingly, they were supportive,” he expanded on the all-in-a-day women’s 100m.

The World Athletics post emphasized: “Finals will feature in 17 of the 20 sessions, with the schedule carefully crafted to allow the maximum number of potential doubles – such as the 100m & 200m, 200m & 400m (plus relays), 800m & 1500m, 1500m & 5000m, 5000m & 10,000m, and long jump & triple jump.” Sebastian Coe also commented on a possible Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 400m & 400m hurdles double: “There will be rounds that are on the same day and there is a two-day gap between finals. And if she chooses to do that, there’s probably no one better suited than Sydney to achieve it.” The WA President also spoke about the men’s marathon: “It will be the same in L.A., where the [men’s marathon] medals will be presented in the closing ceremony. We would like to see the road events – marathon and race walk – end in the Coliseum. We are in ongoing discussions with LA28 to see if we can make that happen.” Via Sports Examiner.