Excessive heat at worlds forces organizers to move women's 5K heats to night session Wednesday

2023-08-22 23:51

The start of the women’s 5,000-meter heats will be moved from the morning session Wednesday into the evening because of excessive heat at the track and field world championships in Budapest, Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The start of the women's 5,000-meter heats will be moved from the morning session Wednesday into the evening because of the excessive heat at the track and field world championships.

With the forecast expected to be around 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), World Athletics decided to reschedule about eight hours later in the day. The switch announced Tuesday also means the heats for the men's and women's 200 meters will be moved up about 30 minutes. Americans Noah Lyles and Sha'Carri Richardson will go for their second gold after each won in the 100 meters.

The weather isn't expected to cool off for the rest of the championships. The forecast for Saturday is 36 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).

World Athletics uses its own measuring system and determined the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature shows “increases the risk of exertional heat stroke.” WBGT is an international standard for measuring the heat, humidity and thermal stress conditions.

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