WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date: 4th August 2017-13th August 2017
Venue: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Description: Athletic greats Usain Bolt and Mo Farah will take to the global stage one last time at Athletics World Championships 2017 in London from 4-13 August. Usain, who has completed the 100m-200m sprint double at the past two World Championships, plans to compete in the 100m and 4x100m relay in what can be his last big event. On the other hand, long-distance great Farah, who will switch to road racing next season, seeks to clinch his fifth double in the 5,000m and 10,000m. Farah had won both titles at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, as well as at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships.
This year’s championships will be the 16th in the event’s 34-year history. The first IAAF World Championships was hosted in Helsinki in 1983. The last edition of the Championships held in Beijing, China, in August, 2015, saw 1931 athletes participate from a record 207 national federations. Kenya topped the medal table for the first time in its history, winning 16 medals of which seven were gold. USA have topped the medal table on 10 occasions.
The Indian team comprises 14 men who will participate in 8 different disciplines while 11 women athletes will compete in 6 events. A 13-member support staff comprising team officials, coaches, masseurs and team doctor will also accompany the team which will depart for London in the first week of next month.
The men’s team include Irfan Kolothum Thodi, Devender Singh and Ganapathi Krishnan in 20km Race Walk, Muhammed Anas Yahiya in 400m & 4x400m Relay, Lakshmanan Govindnan in 5000m & 10000m, Siddhanth Thingalaya in 110m Hurdles, Gopi Thonakal in Marathon, Neeraj Chopra and Davinder Singh Kang in Javelin Throw, Arokia Rajiv, Amoj Jacob, Kunhu Mohammed, Mohan Kumar Raja, Sachin Roby in 4x400m Relay.
The women’s team include Khushbir Kaur in 20 km Race Walk, Nirmala Sheoran in 400m & 4x400m Relay, Swapna Barman in Heptathlon, Monika Motiram Athare in Marathon, Annu Rani in Javelin Throw, M R Poovamma, Jisna Mathew, Anilda Thomas, Jauna Murmu, Anu Raghavan. in 4x400m Relay.
Along with them, the latest inclusion is Dutee Chand who was invited by IAAF as a quota entry.
India’s campaign at the World Championships will begin with long distance runner Govindan Lakshmanan’s participation in the mens’ 1,0000m final on 5 August.