WORLD ATHLETICS CREATES FUND TO SUPPORT ATHLETES DURING THE PANDEMIC

World Athletics, together with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF), has today launched a US$500,000 fund to support professional athletes experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who also chairs the IAF, said the fund would be used to assist athletes who have lost most of their income in the last few months due to the suspension of international competition while the world combats the global health emergency.

© IAAF
IAAF President Sebastian Coe

Established in 1986 to support charitable causes involving athletics, the International Athletics Foundation, under the Honorary Presidency of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, has allocated resources from its budgets for 2020 and 2021 to assist athletes in need through this process.

Coe will chair an expert multi-regional working group to assess the applications for assistance, which will be submitted through World Athletics’ six Area Associations.

The members will include: Olympic champion and 1500m world record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj, Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi (representing the WA Athletes’ Commission), WA Executive Board members Sunil Sabharwal (Audit Committee) and Abby Hoffman, WA Council members Adille Sumariwalla, Beatrice Ayikoru and Willie Banks, IAF Executive Committee member and former WA treasurer Jose Maria Odriozola and Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines President Keith Joseph.

The working group will meet this week to establish a process for awarding and distributing grants to individual athletes and to look at other ways to raise additional monies for the fund.

Coe said it was important that the sport supported its athletes most in need during the current circumstances.

“I would especially like to thank Hicham for bringing this idea to us, and Prince Albert for his strong support of this project. I am in constant contact with athletes around the world and I know that many are experiencing financial hardship as a consequence of the shutdown of most international sports competition in the last two months. Our professional athletes rely on prize money as part of their income and we’re mindful that our competition season, on both the track and road, is being severely impacted by the pandemic. We are hopeful that we will be able to stage at least some competition later this year, but in the meantime we will also endeavour, through this fund and additional monies we intend to seek through the friends of our sport, to help as many athletes as possible.

photo credit: Eckhard Pecher (Arcimboldo) – Eigenes Werk
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/legalcode

HSH Prince Albert II added: “I created more than 35 years ago the International Athletics Foundation with the late Primo Nebiolo to encourage and promote athletics and grant financial assistance to athletics federations and the most deserving athletes. Since its inception the Foundation has distributed for these purposes more than US$30 Million. I am delighted that we can put our resources behind this initiative so we can make a difference to the lives of athletes who are suffering financially at this time. We hope that this support will help those athletes preparing for international competition, including next year’s Olympic Games, to sustain their training, support their families and that this will relieve them of some stress in these uncertain times.’’

El Guerrouj said: “The pandemic is causing economic pain to people from all parts of society, including athletes, and this is a time when we must come together as a global community to help each other. I am delighted that Seb and World Athletics reacted so positively to my suggestion that we create a fund for athletes, and have made it happen with the support of the International Athletics Foundation. The suspension of competition has had a huge impact on many professional athletes because they can’t earn prize money so I’m really pleased that we have found a way to assist them.”

IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS DOHA 2019 – THE HIGHEST QUALITY CHAMPIONSHIPS OF ALL TIME

IAAF President Sebastian Coe has described the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 as the best in history in terms of the quality and depth of performances produced by the athletes of more than 200 nations.

Speaking after the final evening session on Sunday (6), Coe noted that six championship records had been set, 43 countries had won medals, and athletes from 68 different nations had achieved at least one top-eight placing. There have been 21 area records – double the number from 2017 – and 86 national records have been broken, underlining the global reach of the sport.

“For those who follow our sport closely, you will know that we rank our championships on the performances of the athletes,” Coe said. “It is how we, the athletes and the coaches measure our success.

© Getty Images/IAAF

“The world’s athletes have put on the best show in the history of the IAAF World Athletics Championships, according to the competition performance rankings which are used as an objective measure of the quality of international competition.

“These performances are incredible but credit must also go to the facilities and conditions provided by the host country. Doha has created conditions on the field of play and in the warm up that are unsurpassed.

“We are proud of the fact we reach more countries than any other sport,” added Coe. “Just look at the breadth and depth – 43 countries on the medals table and 86 national records set. We want our athletes to experience different cultures and different conditions. It’s what makes our sport so accessible.”

Dahlan Al Hamad, Vice President of the local organising committee, was delighted to see Qatar’s dreams become reality.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe
(Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images for IAAF)

“Our dream started in 1997 when we organised the first meeting in this stadium,” he said. “After that, we kept hosting many meets until 2000 when we organised the Grand Prix Final. We continued our journey in 2010 when we organised the World Indoor Championships in the nearby Aspire Dome. We also organised the Diamond League meeting here and it was really good.

“We are thrilled we have been able to expand. There are generations here who are hungry to have this kind of sporting event here. Qatar is a nation of more than 100 communities. They have been able to celebrate their athletes from all around the world.”

© LOC

Top ranked World Championships
Based on the IAAF competition performance rankings, used to rank the quality of competitions, the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 tops the list of all World Championships to date.

Taking the best five results and athletes from the best 24 events (before tonight’s finals), the top five editions are:

1. 2019, Doha – 195,869
2. 2015, Beijing – 194,547
3. 2017, London – 193,426
4. 2013, Moscow – 192,664
5. 2009, Berlin – 191,168

© Getty Images/IAAF

Based on the average scores of all track and field results, the top five editions are:

1. 2019, Doha – 1024.75
2. 2017, London – 1012.84
3. 1999, Seville – 1007.98
4. 2015, Beijing – 1004.78
5. 2009, Berlin – 1004.55

There have been many outstanding performances over the 10 days of competition with unprecedented depth in many of the finals. Based on the IAAF scoring tables, the top five men’s and women’s performances are:

MEN
22.91m Joe Kovacs (USA) shot put – 1295pts
22.90m Tom Walsh (NZL) shot put – 1294pts
22.90m Ryan Crouser (USA) shot put – 1294pts
9.76 Christian Coleman (USA) 100m – 1291pts
43.48 Steven Gardiner (BAH) 400m – 1289pts

WOMEN
7.30m Malaika Mihambo (GER) long jump – 1288pts
48.14 Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) 400m – 1281pts
48.37 Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) 400m – 1272pts
3:51.95 Sifan Hassan (NED) 1500m – 1271pts
6981 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) heptathlon – 1269pts

© LOC

The championships have not just been about record-breaking performances, though. This edition will also be remembered for its close finishes, surprise winners, moments of fair play, and the arrival of the next generation of athletics stars.

USA’s 200m winner Noah Lyles and Germany’s decathlon victor Niklas Kaul became the youngest ever world champions in their respective events. Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh twice broke the world U20 record on her way to the silver medal in the high jump. She was one of several athletes born in or after the year 2000 who earned medals, along with Ethiopian duo Selemon Barega and Lemecha Girma and Bahrain’s Musa Isah.

The innovations – including light shows, new camera angles and increased engagement with athletes – have helped the sport reach a younger audience around the world.

IAAF

COE RE-ELECTED AS IAAF PRESIDENT, RESTREPO ELECTED FIRST EVER FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT

IAAF President Sebastian Coe was elected for a second term at the 52nd IAAF Congress in Doha on Wednesday (25) while Ximena Restrepo, Sergey Bubka, Geoffrey Gardner and Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud were elected Vice Presidents.

All 203 voting members of Congress voted for Coe; there were no abstained votes.

Restrepo, the 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist from Colombia, will become the first woman to serve as an IAAF Vice President. As part of the widespread reforms adopted by the IAAF Congress at the end of 2016, the IAAF added minimum gender targets into its constitution to establish parity at all levels in the sport’s governance.

Coe welcomed Restrepo, who now lives in Chile, as one of the new Vice Presidents and offered his congratulations.

“Ximena is a former athlete which is tremendously helpful when you’re driving the sport forward,” said Coe. “I am delighted that we have for the very first time elected a female Vice President and that she will be joined by seven other women on council. This is a historic moment.”

“I’m really honoured to take this position,” said Restrepo. “It’s a great moment for me and for my country. I would like to thank you, Seb, because this was only made possible because of you and the changes made to the constitution.

“I think we, as women, now have more opportunities than before. I just hope I can do a good job. I’d like to thank all of the member federations who voted for me. I hope I can be all that they expected me to be.”

COE RE-ELECTED AS IAAF PRESIDENT, RESTREPO ELECTED FIRST EVER FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT
© AFP / Getty Images

Congress also elected new members of the IAAF Council. The newly elected members are:
Hiroshi Yokokawa (JPN)
Antti Pihlakoski (FIN)
Anna Riccardi (ITA)
Nan Wang (CHN)
Adille Sumariwalla (IND)
Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR)
Abby Hoffman (CAN)
Sylvia Barlag (NED)
Alberto Juantorena (CUB)
Willie Banks (USA)
Raul Chapado (ESP)
Dobromir Karamarinov (BUL)
Beatrice Ayikoru (UGA)

The IAAF Council will be composed of 26 members, eight of whom are women. The 13 newly elected members will be joined by six Area Presidents and two members of the Athletes’ Commission, one man and one woman, including the Chair.

Following the recommendations made by the IAAF Taskforce, Congress also voted to uphold the suspension of RusAF.

IAAF

IAAF SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTED MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BOARD

As part of its programme of governance reforms, the IAAF is strengthening the Executive Board elected by Congress, with three appointed positions, and is now seeking applications for these positions. The Executive Board serves as one of the two governing bodies within the IAAF alongside the IAAF Council. Three of the nine members of the […]

via IAAF SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTED MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BOARD — finixsportsblog

IAAF SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTED MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BOARD

As part of its programme of governance reforms, the IAAF is strengthening the Executive Board elected by Congress, with three appointed positions, and is now seeking applications for these positions.

The Executive Board serves as one of the two governing bodies within the IAAF alongside the IAAF Council.

© iaaf.org

Three of the nine members of the Executive Board will be appointed rather than elected, to ensure the Executive Board has the necessary skills, expertise, as well as gender and geographical diversity, to undertake its responsibilities.

The Executive Board will be responsible for governing the business of the IAAF, with duties that include developing and reviewing the IAAF Strategic Plan, adopting and monitoring the organisation’s annual plan and budget, appointing and monitoring the Chief Executive and approving major transactions including major commercial and rights arrangements.

The nine members of the Executive Board, will be: the IAAF President, who is also Chair of the Executive Board; the four Vice-Presidents, elected by the Congress, three Appointed Executive Board Members; and the IAAF Chief Executive, who holds a non-voting position.

© IAAF
IAAF President Sebastian Coe

IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “The role of the Executive Board is crucial to the way we govern our sport. Good governance requires that we have an executive board with experienced members from within our sport who understand the sport and its structures, supplemented with the business and strategic skills that are required to offer expert guidance to the IAAF. This diverse experience will create a strong Executive Board at an exciting time for our sport so I would encourage candidates with appropriate expertise to apply without delay.”

The three Appointed Executive Board Members will be approved by the President and the four Vice-Presidents, on the recommendation of a new Executive Board Appointments Panel, which comprises IAAF President Sebastian Coe, IAAF Council member Nawal El Moutawakel and Gordon Orlikow, the independent member with expertise in non-executive recruitment and appointment. Orlikow is the Convenor of the Panel.

The appointment is for a term of four years commencing at the end of 2019 until the next Election Congress in 2023.

The Executive Board will meet at least six times a year, but 8-10 times during the first year.

A full job description and details of how to apply are available here. The deadline for applications is midnight CET on 13 September 2019.

IAAF

IAAF UNVEILS NEW NAME AND LOGO

The IAAF Council approved the global governing body’s new name and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting which concluded today (8) in Monaco.

The new name, ‘World Athletics’, builds upon the organisation’s restructuring and governance reform agenda of the past four years to represent a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport. The new brand, Council agreed, makes the sport more accessible to a wider audience while giving the global governing body the opportunity to more clearly communicate its mission as the leader of the world’s most participatory sport.

“The hope is that our new brand will help attract and engage a new generation of young people to athletics,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe. “We have now created a brand that can come to life in the digital world while reflecting the changing nature of the sport. And at the same time bring into focus the athletes, the heroes of our sport.”

“The IAAF name has been in existence for over 100 years, but it has little understanding or relevance to those outside of athletics,” said IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon. “The new identity creates a symbol that can stand alone and work with partners and events.”

The new brand identity will begin its rollout in October after the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 and following Congress’s approval of the change to the Federation’s legal name.

© IAAF

The logo design is comprised of three main elements: the ‘W’ of World, which is also a symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory; the ‘A’ of Athletics, which also represents an athlete’s focus as they prepare for the road ahead; and an arc over both to represent the entire athletics community coming together. The logo also includes the sweep of a running track which appears in an upward trajectory, symbolising the desire to continually push beyond limits. The patterns capture the energy present in all four of athletics’ group disciplines: running, jumping, throwing and walking.

The rebrand process began in January 2018 when the IAAF invited five global brand and marketing agencies to respond to the brief outlining the rebrand concept. From those, an internal team selected a short list, which then underwent a consultation process where Member Federations, partners, athletes and broadcasters provided feedback before the final version was presented to Council.

The logo, a logo film, a brand narrative and other assets can be downloaded here.

IAAF

PENN RELAYS AND HAKONE EKIDEN HEAD WORLD ATHLETICS HERITAGE PLAQUE ANNOUNCEMENTS AT IAAF WORLD RELAYS IN YOKOHAMA

IAAF President Sebastian Coe announced 11 new locations for the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque at tonight’s IAAF / LOC Dinner on the eve of the IAAF World Relays Yokohama 2019.

The new locations in the categories of ‘Competition’ and ‘Landmark’ are spread across the IAAF’s six continental areas.

‘Permanent reminders of outstanding historic athletic achievement’

“The eleven recipients we honour tonight have each made an enormous impact in the historical development of the sport of athletics in their countries and beyond,” said Sebastian Coe. “We launched this new award last December and a public competition has since designed the plaque. Next year we will begin to unveil the plaques, permanent reminders of outstanding historic athletic achievement, in prominent locations around the world.”

Appropriately, given the reason for the dinner, two of the 11 plaques awarded were to relay events. The Penn Relays (USA), established in 1895, is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, while the Hakone Ekiden (JPN) founded in 1920, is the world’s oldest ekiden marathon relay.

Ethiopian and Kenyan ‘Landmarks’

While nine of the locations announced were in the category of ‘Competition’, for the first time Coe announced recipients in the category of ‘Landmark’. Two famous centres of distance running in Africa were honoured. These were the Ethiopian town of Bekoji, ‘Town of Runners’, and Iten in Kenya, the ‘Home of Champions’.

Sao Paulo’s double honour

Hakone was not the only road race honoured, with the Seoul Marathon, Korea (founded 1931), the third oldest road race in Asia, and the Saint Silvester São Paulo, Brazil (founded 1925), the world’s most famous New Year’s race, also recognised. São Paulo becomes the first city to receive two plaques following last December’s award to the Centro Esportivo e de Lazer Tietê in the city thanks to its association with the double Olympic champion Adhemar da Silva.

Combined events excellence

The world’s leading combined events meetings, Décastar Talence, France (founded 1976) and Hypo Meeting Götzis, Austria (founded 1975), were similarly recognised for their extraordinary contribution to and unique place in the development and promotion of the heptathlon and decathlon events.

© Monthly Athletics Magazine Japan / Getsuriku

Historic handicap race and two European invitational meets

Three track and field meetings were also recognised. The oldest was the Stawell Gift, Victoria, Australia (founded 1878) which includes one of the world’s most historic foot races – a 120-metre race run on grass, with runners handicapped according to form.

The Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) in Berlin, Germany, established in 1921, is the world’s oldest invitational one-day meeting, and the Weltklasse Zürich (founded 1928), known originally as the ‘Nurmi’ meeting and more recently dubbed the ‘Olympics in one day’, were honoured from their contribution to world track and field history.

IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque

The Plaque is a location-based recognition which highlights, celebrates and links together iconic and historic athletics careers, cities, competitions, culture, landmarks, performances and venues around the world.

A uniquely designed plaque will be permanently and publicly displayed at a location closely associated with each recipient.

The Plaque is awarded for an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track & field and of out-of-stadia athletics.

List of Plaques

Location of Plaques (when unveiled in 2020)

IAAF

CARIFTA GAMES AND JAMAICAN SCHOOLS BECOME LATEST RECIPIENTS OF WORLD ATHLETICS HERITAGE PLAQUE

While attending the 48th edition of the CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands (20-22 April), IAAF President Sebastian Coe confirmed the latest recipients of the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque.

“I am delighted to announce the award of the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque to two internationally famous youth and junior competitions in the NACAC area,” confirmed Seb Coe. “They are the Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships, Jamaica and the CARIFTA Games.”

“Many congratulations to the Jamaican Schools and CARIFTA Games, your historic contribution to the development of athletics is unquestionable,” concluded Coe.

Known affectionately as ‘Champs’, the Jamaican high school championships were founded in 1910. The annual competition has provided a production line of athletics talent from Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley to Donald Quarrie and Merlene Ottey and of course Usain Bolt.

The recipient will be the organisers, Jamaica’s Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association.

© Leo Hudson

The second competition which will receive the recognition of a plaque is the CARIFTA Games. Founded in 1972, the games were inaugurated by Austin Sealy, then president of the Amateur Athletic Association of Barbados.

Like ‘Champs’ in Jamaica, CARIFTA has become a conveyor belt of talent for the entire Caribbean region. It was from CARIFTA that ‘Lightning Bolt’ first emerged on the international stage. More recently global champions Kirani James and Shaunae Miller-Uibo have become the latest in the long line of champions produced.

The recipient will be the IAAF area association, NACAC.

– List of plaques
– Location of plaques (when unveiled in 2020)

IAAF

AIR QUALITY DEVICE INSTALLED IN AUSTRALIA AS PART OF THE IAAF’S GLOBAL PROGRAMME…

IR QUALITY DEVICE INSTALLED IN AUSTRALIA AS PART OF THE IAAF’S GLOBAL PROGRAMME TO MONITOR AND SHARE AIR QUALITY DATA

The IAAF has today launched its first air quality monitor in the Southern Hemisphere, at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre in Australia, as part of a pilot programme to measure air quality at stadiums around the world.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe, accompanied by Athletics Australia President Mark Arbib, switched on the device, the third installed at athletics stadiums as part of the IAAF’s five-year partnership with UN Environment, which is designed to create greater global awareness and promote action on air pollution.

The ultimate aim of the programme is to develop an air quality monitoring network linking 1000 IAAF-certified tracks around the world.

© IAAF
IAAF President Sebastian Coe

Commenting at the installation ceremony, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “We are all advocating and promoting more active lifestyles across the age spectrum and in all communities in order to fight the increasing sedentary lifestyles which in themselves cause heart disease, diabetes and other prolonged medical illnesses. But with over half the world’s population living in urban areas in 2015 and rising to a predicted 60% by 2030, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – that is double the 30% of the world’s population who lived in urban areas back in 1950 – it is vital that we ensure we are not swapping one set of serious health risks for another. In the same way as the quality of water we drink is vital, it is high time that we are all equally demanding about the quality of air we breathe.”

President of Athletics Australia, Mark Arbib, said: “We are very supportive of the IAAF’s decision to make the Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre the third stadium around the world to receive an air quality monitor.

“Air quality is something we mostly take for granted in Australia, but air pollution has a direct impact on the health of our population and as we have seen globally, the consequences can be dire if pollution reaches high levels over prolonged periods. We welcome the leadership of Sebastian Coe and the IAAF on this important issue and urge all governments and sporting federations to keep environmental and climate challenges at the front of their minds at all times.”

The IAAF’s goal is to help the global efforts of organisations like UN Environment and WHO by gathering data, conducting studies and helping to raise awareness and educate people on air quality. The IAAF’s ambition is to install a clean air monitor in all 1000 IAAF-certified track around the world over the next five years in partnership with UNEP.

The data will be available to the cities the tracks are in and, in time, will enable the IAAF to conduct meaningful performance studies with athletes who train and compete on these tracks and in these stadiums and use this information to benefit communities.

“It’s a big ambition and we have started small,” said Coe. “We are installing air quality monitors in six athletics stadiums in different parts of the world – in Monaco (installed in September), Addis Ababa (November), Sydney today and Mexico City, South America and Japan being installed over the next two months. We will run this pilot for the best part of a year to understand more about the data we can collect and, in that time, we hope to conduct one or two controlled studies on athlete performance and how their performances correlate to the quality of air they are breathing.

“The sport of athletics is run through member associations based in 214 countries. We are bigger than the United Nations. We want to use our know-how, our voice and our athletes to bring this issue to the forefront of both policymakers and the public. We need to act now. We need more awareness based on solid facts, we need more education on the impact of poor air quality on our communities and our children and we need more voices to demand better policies around pollutants,” said Coe.

The monitoring devices, produced by the Spanish firm Kunak, will collect real time air quality data, measuring levels of several pollutants including PM2.5 (particles), PM10, O3 and NO2, which research shows are the four main elements that have an impact on the performance of athletes.

IAAF

FORMER INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE AND BUSINESSMAN JON RIDGEON ANNOUNCED AS NEW IAAF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

The IAAF today announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO following approval by the IAAF Council on the first day of its 215th Council Meeting in Monaco.

Ridgeon, 51, has spent his life in sport, starting out as an athlete competing in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles between 1984 and 1996. He is former British record holder and silver medallist in the 110m hurdles in the 1987 World Championships in Rome. He also represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games – Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996.

Ridgeon has since set up and run successful businesses in sport, both in the commercial and event delivery fields across numerous sports. Ridgeon was also responsible for transforming British Athletics in 1998 to the most commercially successful athletics governing body in the world, which included brokering multi-million pound sponsorship and broadcast deals. He was also one of the architects of the IAAF Diamond League Series.

Commenting on the appointment, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “I, and a number of the IAAF Council Members, have known Jon for many years and admired his passion, energy and innovation in sport, particularly athletics. His experience in putting together great teams, running large successful companies, delivering top class events and bringing strong commercial partners into sport makes him the right choice for this role. I am delighted he has accepted the offer to join the organisation as we embark on further developing and growing the sport across the globe. The next three years, with two World Championships and an Olympic Games, will be an exciting and challenging time for our sport and we are confident that Jon has the right experience and energy to maximise the opportunities we have.”

IAAF C.E.O. Jon Ridgeon

Commenting on the new role, Jon Ridgeon said: “Having spent my life in sport, this is a dream job for me and I am absolutely thrilled. Athletics is my passion and I have devoted the vast majority of the last 20 years to creating successful commercial partnerships, developing new events that drive participation at both elite and grassroots levels, as well as leading organisations that deliver significant projects across the globe. I am delighted to be joining world athletics at this exciting time and look forward to working with Seb, a strong team and all our member federations across the globe.”

Ridgeon will take up his new role in March 2019.

Coe added: “My thanks, and that of the IAAF Council, go to Nigel Garfitt, who stepped in as acting CEO in March this year and will continue to work with the organisation through to the IAAF World Championships in Doha in September, 2019, to support Jon and ensure a smooth transition across the sport.”

IAAF