World Athletics Championship 2022

The World Athletics Championships are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics. In 2022 the World Athletics Championships began on Friday, 15 July and ended on Sunday, 24 July. The eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

The World Athletics Championships 2022 forms an important part of the current affairs section of various competitive exams since it has been buzzing around lately.

Why in the News?

• Haryana’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra On July 24, 2022, created history by winning a silver medal in the javelin throw final of the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
• The Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted yet another history as he became only second Indian and first male to win a medal at the World Championship. He produced a best throw of 88.13m to finish second.
• Anju Bobby George, a renowned long jumper, was the first Indian to win a medal-Bronze in the World Championship in the 2003 edition in Paris.

Information on World Athletics Championships holds high chances of being asked under the national and International affairs in Prelims hence, this article will give further details about World Championships in Athletics within the context of the IAS Exam.

World Athletics Championship – Background

1. The World Athletics Championships was inaugurated in 1983. 
2. Until 2019 the WAC was known as the World Championships in Athletics. 
3. Earlier it was organized by the IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations. Now the World Athletics is responsible for the conduction of WAC.
4. The World Athletics hold the WAC competition biennially, usually in the month of August.  
5. Alongside the Olympic Games, the WAC represents the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking.
6. The 2023 World Athletics Championships, the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, are scheduled to be held from 19 August to 27 August 2023 in Budapest, Hungary

The topic can be asked as a Current Affairs Question in IAS Prelims. Visit the attached link to attempt practice quizzes on current affairs.

Highlights of World Athletics Championship 2022

1. 1700 plus athletes from 180 nations participated in the WAC 2022. 
2. The 22 athletes – 18 men and four women represented India at the world athletics meet in Eugene.
3. Three Indians had qualified for the World Athletics Championship 2022 finals.
4. Neeraj Chopra entered the men’s javelin finals at Oregon with his first throw of 88.39 metres, Rohit Yadav who threw 80.42 meters also qualified for the javelin throw final.
5. Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final with a jump of 16.68m at the World Athletics Championships at Eugene. He finished sixth in the Group A qualification round.
6. The gold medal in javelin throw was bagged by Anderson Peters who recorded a throw of 90.54m in his final attempt. Meanwhile, the bronze medal was bagged by Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch.
7. As many as six athletes made it to the finals round of the WAC 2022 this time with four of them coming in the top ten.
   • Neeraj Chopra – Silver in Men’s Javelin Throw
   • Murali Sreeshankar – 7th in Long Jump
   • Annu Rani – 7th in Women’s Javelin Throw
   • Eldhose Paul – 9th in Triple Jump

For information about the International Olympic Committee, check the linked article.

Other links related to sports which are a part of the UPSC Syllabus have been given below in the table. Candidates can refer to these for IAS preparation:

World Athletics Championships 2022 – Winner India

Given below is the list of Indian participants in the World Athletics Championship and the Winner of WAC 2022. 

Information on the World Athletics Championship 2022 will help UPSC aspirants to prepare for IAS preparation. One must also be aware of other current affairs to amplify their preparation.