Inside New Track and Field Rules Ahead of World Athletics Championships in Budapest

Over 2,000 athletes representing at least 190 nations will descend upon Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in less than two weeks for the World Athletics Championships.

The nine-day competition, which gets underway on August 19, will feature 49 events, 24 for each gender and one mixed relay event.

The race will feature two elite athletes: Noah Lyles will be vying for his third straight 200-meter gold, while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be vying for her sixth world 100-meter crown.

However, a number of new regulations have been accepted by World Athletics, the global governing body, and will go into force this month ahead of the championships. After extensive consultations with coaches and professional athletes, the new modifications were implemented.

1. No more unoccupied lanes

If an athlete withdrew for any reason in the past, the event would go on with an empty lane. The athlete with the next-highest ranking who was initially left out will take over the unfilled lane or starting place moving forward.
No new lane drawings are planned. To prepare for any potential withdrawals, the next-best-ranked athlete or athletes will be put on standby. Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, has praised the action.

In straight events (100 metres, hurdles, etc.), the top competitors will still utilise lanes 3, 4, 5, and 6, but the next-ranked competitors will now use lanes 2 and 7, instead of the previous lanes 7 and 8. Following the filling of the aforementioned lanes, the final-ranked athletes will occupy lanes 1 and 8, rather than 1 and 2, as previously scheduled.

The top-ranked competitors in the 400-meter race will start in lanes4,5,6, and7; the next-ranked competitors will start in lanes 3 and 8, and the remaining competitors will start in lanes 1 and 2.

Because it prevents them from running severe curves, lane 7 is thought to be the one that competitors like to use in curved races.
3. Middle-distance event qualification for the next round
In middle-distance events, competitors typically advance to the next round after the first heat is completed in order to determine the qualification time.
As the “guinea pigs” who set the route for the qualification time, this meant that the athletes who competed in the first round would be at a disadvantage.