Empty lanes, fastest losers rules out from athletics

Empty lanes following late withdrawals or disqualifica­tion is a thing of the past thanks to rule changes established in time for the World Athletics Championships that started on Saturday.

In another significant change, qualification in middle distance heats will be determined on posi­tions rather than times.

The new rules, which follow widespread discussion with elite athletes and coaches, will mean that before finals and semi-finals, next best-ranked athletes will be stand­ing by in case any lanes need filling at the last minute.

Athletes in the ‘hot seats’ will wait in a television room with cam­eras installed to allow spectators to witness reactions as lane changes occur.

Changes have also been made to the seeding of lane draws in track events after the first round.

For races in a straight line such as the 100 metres, while top-ranked athletes will occupy the four central lanes, the next best ranked will line up on either side of them, with the two last ranked athletes occupying lanes one and eight.

For the 200m, the three best-fa­voured lanes are now five, six and seven, with the outside lane eight and lanes three and four being oc­cupied by the next ranked runners, with the last-ranked running in the two inside lanes.

In the 400 metres event, the top-ranked athletes will go in lanes four, five, six and seven, the next-ranked athletes will slot into three and eight, with the rest getting one and two.

Previously, athletes running in the opening heat of middle distance events have been at a dis­advantage as others then know how fast to go in order to secure the places available to fastest losers.

This system has now been replaced with qualification on positions.

For example, in the 1500m, there will be four preliminary heats where six athletes from each of the heats will proceed to the semi-finals irrespective of their finishing times.

In the semi-finals there will be two heats, where six athletes from each set will proceed to the final.

This will be applicable for the 1500m, 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m. –Insidethegames