Qatar is welcoming thousands of fans and competitors for the World Athletics Championships starting Friday, an event seen as a staging post towards the 2022 football World Cup.
The 10-day event, the biggest sporting gala to be hosted by Qatar after the 2006 Asian Games, will see the world’s top-most stars in track and field compete for glory at the Khalifa International Stadium and on the Corniche.
The city’s iconic waterfront will be used for the marathon, being staged for the first time at midnight when the temperature will be lower. The route will also host the men’s and women’s 20km race walks and the mixed 50km race walk.
Construction teams worked around the clock to finish assembling the elaborate scaffold towers that line the route’s central reservation and will support floodlights for the midnight marathon.
Preparations for the event have been completed, the head of the Local Organising Committee Dahlan al-Hamad said at a recent sports integrity event in Doha.
“Qatar is 100% ready for the championship – we are very excited,” he said.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced road closures on the Corniche to prepare for and facilitate the marathon and other events, and also highlighted the alternative routes. This has been done through a map published in various languages as well as videos on social media.
The Corniche will be closed from 6pm on Thursday until 5am Friday, and then again from 6pm Friday until 5am on Saturday. The map highlights both the closed parts and the alternative routes. “Motorists are advised to follow the traffic signs and co-operate with the Traffic Police,” the MoI tweeted on Wednesday.
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