Muscat: World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe stated the Sultanate of Oman’s athletics scene will get a huge boost when the country hosts the prestigious World Athletics RaceWalking Team Championships 2022 in Muscat this weekend.
The legendary Coe felt the event happening in Muscat could just be the launchpad for creating a culture of athletics among the local community and lead to the hosting of many more such events.
“It could definitely be a springboard to develop more championships in the community. This is a World Championship. The local people need to make the most of it. Hopefully, this will encourage young kids to join athletics clubs. This could be the beginning of a great journey. These championships will be very good.’’
Coe also dwelt upon the prevailing crisis in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and the World Athletics’ decision to ban Russian and Belarussian athletes from taking part in the event.
“The decision was not easy, never an easy decision. But I feel it was the right decision with the consultation of everyone in the council. However, we want the journey the neutral athletes are making to continue.”
Coe stated the decision was completely taken by World Athletics without any interference from any other body.
“This was our own decision, it was not in consultation with IOC. It was taken in by the athletes council,’’ he added.
THE EVENT
The event will take place around the splendid loop courses of Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) which was ideally selected as a perfect venue for its top-class services and exceptionally accommodative facilities to enable ease of preparations for a highly professional and well-coordinated competition within an optimal time.
Friday and Saturday will see as many as 1,000 athletes, walkers and sport delegates from about 46 countries participating in the tournament.
The championships will feature seven different race categories – 10km races for under 20 men and women, 20km races for women and 8km master relay races on the first day. On the following day there will be 35km races for men and women, 20km races for men and 10km master races.
Oman will also participate with the national team and 80-strong crew of referees in addition to 22 international referees to ensure compliance with the rules of the game.
Sheikh Salim al Amri, Oman Athletics Association (OAA) chairman stated the event will have multiplier benefits for the Sultanate of Oman.
“We are hopeful that this event will be a prime opportunity for Oman to reap far-reaching economic, tourism and social benefits by flaring up the local business sectors including freight, aviation, hospitality, transportation and many more. On the promotional side, the event will be aired live on over 50 TV stations around the globe. This will effectively showcase the Sultanate’s profile as an ideal venue for world class sport events and actually has the potentials to host similar global athletic events in the future.”
