Tokyo warm-up facilities ‘not perfect’ – Coe

Following complaints from athletes like Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, World Athletics President Lord Coe claims the location of the warm-up areas at the World Championships in Tokyo is “not perfect.”

The main warm-up facility is located in Yoyogi Park, which is two and a half kilometers away from Japan National Stadium by bus, which is about 15 minutes away.

Olympic 800m champion Hodgkinson described the situation as “draining” and that athletes are taking a bus about an hour before their performances.

Coe claims that the organizers have done their best, but the logistics and transport have been a challenge.

He told BBC Sport, “We need to make sure we have excellent transportation systems.”

“We lost the warm-up track we used during the Games,” says one athlete who has encountered a challenge.

We have had to deal with traffic flows at various times of the day and during different times of the week because it is a little further away.

Hodgkinson said she might have to alter her routine after taking home the 800-meter title on Sunday.

You are warming up for almost two hours, she said, referring to the entire warm-up situation.

It can be quite exhausting, so we might want to try something different on Sunday.

American middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz described it as “weird,” adding: “It’s definitely not usual, but we’re all in the same boat.”

Stephen Francis, the Jamaican coach, had more reservations. Francis described a number of logistical issues in an interview with his country’s TVJ news channel, including the “distance from the stadium to the warm-up track.”

He continued, “Those areas of a meet do not fit in the top meet of the year for World Athletics.”

The athlete experience is of utmost importance to World Athletics and the local organising committee at these World Athletics Championships, according to a statement from World Athletics.

As we have seen from other significant athletics championships and Olympic Games, this configuration is not unusual.

Every team and athlete is subject to the same rules regarding warm-up, call room, and transportation without exception.

Coe confirmed that all female athletes competing in the championships have undergone new gene testing in an interview with BBC Sport.

Beginning in September, regulations requiring a one-time gene test for all female competitors in the female category of world rankings events became law.

The presence of a Y chromosome is used by World Athletics to safeguard the integrity of women’s competition.

Due to the fact that these discussions only take place between the athlete and a relevant medical delegate, Coe was unable to confirm whether any athletes had been prevented from competing as a result of the cheek swab test.

According to reports, between 50 and 60 athletes who went through male puberty have been crowned female champions at international and continental athletics championships since 2000.

All of our female athletes have undergone testing, according to Coe, who stated: “We have accomplished what we set out to do.”

Yes, there were some difficulties, but it was a concerted effort, and the majority of the athletes and the member federations really stood up and aided us in this.