‘Heat will not be a problem in Doha’

Thorkildsen will not need a wooly hat if the 2017 world championships are hosted in Doha [GALLO/GETTY]

Worries about competing in Qatar’s scorching temperatures have been overblown and athletes should not worry, Norway’s double Olympic javelin champion Andreas Thorkildsen said of the desert nation’s bid to stage the 2017 world championships.

Doha is vying with London to host track and field’s biennial showpiece event, with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) voting to decide the 2017 hosts on Friday.

Qatar’s bid has faced the same questions over the fierce summer heat that followed the controversial decision by FIFA to award the 2022 soccer World Cup to the Gulf state.

Doha, which has mooted staging the event in September rather than the traditional August dates, plans to turn the Khalifa stadium in the capital into one of the “most technologically advanced stadiums in the world”, designing an air-cooling system to keep athletes and fans comfortable.

“The javelin is such a high risk event… when its warmer there is less risk of injuries so that’s one of the reasons I love competing out there.” Andreas Thorkildsen

“Heat will not be a problem. I don’t think they would need the air con in the evening anyway, the wind picks up a little bit which creates a nice breeze… all the finals will be in the evening anyway,” Thorkildsen, who is an ambassador for the Doha bid, said.

“And for the morning sessions they’ll have the air con on… they will create pretty much optimal conditions for us anyway. They are going to do some interesting innovative things and really have thought about almost everything.

“I’ve loved competing there… had some good experiences, not only me but a lot of other athletes I’ve talked to about it. It’s really nice to compete there, especially as a javelin thrower.

“The javelin is such a high risk event… when its warmer there is less risk of injuries so that’s one of the reasons I
love competing out there.”

Perfect evening marathon

Doha organisers plan to hold the marathon at night following the opening ceremony of the championships.

“I think it will be better than what we have seen at previous championships when they have run it in the morning,”
Thorkildsen said.

“I remember in Osaka (in 2007), and some of the other places where the marathon has been held in the morning… the sun was out and people were passing out on the course.

“I don’t think you will see that in Doha when it’s on at night, under the lights and hopefully a nice breeze blowing. It
will be perfect I think.”

Thorkildsen said taking the global showpiece to new markets and regions was vital in increasing the popularity of the sport.

“Choosing Doha would be good for the entire region, it will give athletics a great push” Andreas Thorkildsen

“It will hopefully help develop our sport, both in the sense of trying to attract kids from that region into the sport and also help create more fans in the region,” he said.

“Choosing Doha would be good for the entire region, it will give athletics a great push.”

The 29-year-old said he still hoped to be competing and challenging for major titles in 2017.

The Norwegian failed to defend his world title in Daegu, South Korea when he had to settle for silver behind German
Matthias de Zordo, ending what he said was a difficult season.

“I had injuries and some technical problems. It wasn’t terrible but I didn’t meet my goals of winning in Daegu and
winning the Diamond League,” he said.

While Thorkildsen is positive about hosting the worlds in Doha, there have already been disagreements about cooling techniques for the 2022 World Cup. 

Architects designing a World Cup stadium are trying to persuade Qatari organisers to scrap plans to have air conditioning in the venue.

John Barrow of leading firm Populous says air conditioning is too expensive and “notoriously unsustainable” when used on a large scale.

Air-conditioned stadiums to beat 122-degree desert heat in June were a defining theme of Qatar’s winning bid last year. Barrow, however, says the planned Sports City stadium can be kept cool by shading seats and traditional Arabic methods for ventilation.

Populous proposes using wind towers to create fan-like air movement inside the 47,000-capacity stadium. Barrow says spectators could be kept comfortable at 86 degrees during evening matches.