Athletics: IAAF gives women's midnight marathon green light despite heat concerns
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DOHA (AFP) - The women's marathon at the world track and field championships will go ahead as planned in Doha, Qatar on Friday (Sept 27) night but the start time could still be altered depending on weather conditions, organisers said.
The IAAF said in a statement the wet bulb globe temperature - which measures heat, humidity and other factors - would be at or below 30 deg C which they said was "within the range (28 to 30.9 deg C) that has been predicted and planned for in the past six months".
The marathon had already been moved to an 11.59pm (4.59 am on Saturday in Singapore) start time in order to shield competitors from the hottest part of the day.
The marathon runners and walkers do not have the luxury of competing in the air-conditioned Khalifa Stadium where the climate is maintained at 23-25 deg.
"The IAAF has today sent a letter to the entrants in the women's marathon at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 confirming that the race will go ahead as planned this evening," read the statement.
"The latest weather information confirms that the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature for tonight's race will be at or below 30 deg.
"This is within the range (28 to 30.9 deg) that has been predicted and planned for in the past six months."
The IAAF - which received criticism from France's defending 50km walk world champion Yohann Diniz earlier on Friday about being made to compete in the humid conditions - said team leaders and their medical staff had been briefed on Thursday about the weather conditions and all the original 69 marathon entrants were still set to compete.
"Any decision to alter the starting time of the event will be made by 10.30pm, on the recommendation of the IAAF medical delegate, who also has the authority to withdraw any athlete before or during the event if he believes the athlete is experiencing any type of severe distress.
"The IAAF health and science department sent detailed advice on preparing to compete in extreme heat, in its Beat the Heat brochure, to all member federations in June."
