31 July 2018
AFI Media
New Delhi. The 23rd Asian Athletics Championships will be held from 19-24 April 2019 in Doha, Qatar. The biennial continental event which is usually held in July-August is preponed by Asian Athletics Association (AAA) due to intensely hot and humid summers in Doha.
The six-day competition will be held at the Khalifa International Stadium which will also host the IAAF World Championships from 28 Sep.-06 Oct. 2019.
With less than two years to go for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the planning committee of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has advised all the coaches and athletes to focus on the two competitions.
“There is no time for rest and we have planned in advance a lot of activity for the next year. We finished on top in the medals tally in the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 and we want to maintain that in 2019 as well. After Asian Championships, Doha will again host the IAAF World Championships in September and we expect our athletes to make best use of these competitions as we prepare for Tokyo Olympics in 2020,” said Adille J Sumariwalla, AFI President.
After Jakarta Asian Games (18 Aug.-02 Sep. 2018), the Indian athletes will take part in IAAF Continental Cup (8-9 Sep. 2018) in Ostrava, Czech Republic in September. The athletes will then take part in various domestic competitions including National Open (25-28 Sep. 2018) in Bhubaneshwar, first edition of National 400m Championships (8-9 Sep. 2018) in Dharamshala and National Javelin Challenge (9-10 Sep. 2018) in Lucknow.
“The national campers will then travel abroad at various locations for training ahead of Asian Championships 2019,” said AFI President.
