The Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar SC hosts today’s opening of the first Asian Youth Athletics Championships, with 410 male and female athletes representing the sport’s grassroots on the Asian continent from 41 countries competing on Qatari soil over three days, from today until the 11th of this month, in search of medals and to write a new chapter in the continent’s athletics history.
The first edition of the championship represents the biggest challenge for the continent in keeping pace with the development of the mother of sports in the world, being held under Qatari leadership and a Qatari idea represented by HE Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Asian and Qatar athletics federations, in giving the great continent the chance to develop and build a base of champions.
Asian delegations for athletics have all arrived in Doha, with the track and field of the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar SC prepared in every respect to receive the major event, while the outer track and field were tested for the training sessions that began yesterday for the championship’s participants, with each team working to make the most of the time and gain as much preparation as possible for the new Asian challenge and for qualification to the World Youth Athletics Championships in the Colombian capital, Bogota, in two months’ time
17 events on the first day
The Asian Youth Championships will see competition in 17 races and events on the first day, split between the two categories across morning and evening sessions, with the first dedicated to the boys’ category heats starting at 8am (heats, 100m, long jump, shot put “decathlon” and the 100m race), while the evening session will feature “7” finals, preceded by the official opening ceremony of the championship at 5.15pm, followed immediately by the start of official competition, in the following order: 100m heats, girls, javelin final, girls, shot put final, boys, high jump, decathlon, boys, 100m semi-final, boys, 2000m steeplechase final boys, 800m heats, boys, discus final, girls, 3000m final, girls, 100m final, girls, 100m final, boys, 400m heats, decathlon, boys.
A simple opening ceremony
The senior organising committee for the championship has arranged wonderful plans for the opening ceremony, which will be simple in form but elegant in its details, featuring a parade of the countries taking part in the championship, with the ceremony arranged through an official rehearsal at the challenge field, as Qatar seeks to leave a lasting artistic mark in organising the first championship of this kind for this category.
