Oman to host World Walking Championship

Oman Tuesday 22/February/2022 15:04 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman to host World Walking Championship
Representative image

Muscat: The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships (Muscat 22) will start on 4 March 2022 at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The two-day event to be hosted by the Sultanate of Oman is being organised by the World Athletics, in cooperation with the Oman Athletics Association.

As many as 1,000 male and female runners from 60 countries from around the world will participate in the tournament to contest the seven laps of the race.

The championship will witness the participation of the Omani national team, consisting of 16 players distributed between two general categories for a distance of 20km and 35km, in addition to the male category for a distance of 10km.

Teams from about 60 countries from all over the world will participate in the tournament to compete for seven categories, namely the 10km walk race (age below 20) for both genders, 20 km walk race for females, 8km sequential walking race (master class), 35km walk race (unisex), 20km walk race for males and a 10km walk race (master class - unisex).

The championship’s referees list will include 80 Omani referees who will be responsible for the competitors’ adherence to the championship’s procedures and regulations before the start of the races. It also includes 22 international referees distributed in the race tracks to ensure fair competition for all competitors.

The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is organised every two years by the World Athletics. The event is a long-distance walking race. It is considered different from running in that there must be one foot in contact with the ground at all times.

It is worth noting that the tournament was scheduled to be held in the Belarusian city of Minsk, but it was cancelled and postponed several times due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and travel restrictions.