Indoor athletics is renamed short track by World Athletics.
The name change, to be formally approved in August, will allow 200m tracks – the typical indoor size as opposed to 400m outdoor tracks – to also be built outdoors and have those results eligible to be recognized as world records.
“With the advent of modern athletics and the development of hybrid competition venues—city squares, shopping malls, train stations—it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the separation between outdoor and indoor athletics,” according to a World Athletics press release. “In some field events, the separation has been eliminated entirely for the sake of the world record.”
World Athletics President Seb Coe said the change will open up “a world of possibilities” for meeting organizers.
It “will provide cities with a more affordable option, particularly where there is a shortage of space, while stimulating the growth of the sport through investment in new infrastructure,” Coe said in the release.
Major indoor championships will continue, but in areas with zero or limited indoor facilities, short track events may be held outdoors with results counting as qualifications for those indoor championships.
The next World Indoor Championships are scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, next March.
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!
