IAAF drops 4 events

Our objective is to create a faster-paced, more exciting global league that will be the showcase for our sport. A league that broadcasters want to show and fans want to watch.

PARIS, France (AFP) — The International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) dropped the 200 meters, 3,000 meters steeplechase, triple jump and discus from its list of “core” disciplines at Diamond League meetings in 2020.

The IAAF said its decision was based on online research in China, France, South Africa and the United States and post-event surveys in Belgium, Britain and Switzerland.

It said the aim was to reduce the length of the Diamond League meetings to fit a 90-minute international broadcast window.

There will be 12 disciplines staged at each of the 15 Diamond League meetings with the season beginning in Doha on 17 April.

The 200-meter event will, in fact, still be in the program at 10 of the 15 Diamond League meetings and the discus and the triple jump will be contested at two meetings.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe said he understood the “disappointment” of athletes in the disciplines not included in the 2020 Diamond League season, but explained: “Our objective is to create a faster-paced, more exciting global league that will be the showcase for our sport. A league that broadcasters want to show and fans want to watch.”

World 200-meter run champion Noah Lyles tweeted: “Wow, no 200m” and world triple jump champion Will Claye responded with “No more triple jump?”

Triple jump, discus and the 3,000-meter steeplechase ranked “towards the bottom” in the research conducted, the IAAF said in a statement.

The 200-mter run was omitted from the core list as organizers felt its inclusion alongside the 100-meter dash meant the schedule would be “too congested, particularly in an Olympic Games year.”