The long awaited timetable for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been released for Athletics (Track & Field), and as usual, there are a few unusual quirks to the program.
Click here to view the timetable in JPG (950kb)
4×400 Mixed Relays
This is a new event, and it’s a straight final on Day 2 (Saturday) . In my opinion, I think the man-woman-woman-man order is the best strategy. (Old rules has men leading off, and women second, with last two positions up to you)
100 meters
Nothing has changed for the Men’s program. You have the Prelims in the morning of Day 2 (i.e. the “non-Qualifiers”, including participants from remote countries who don’t have a chance at the IAAF “A” Standard, let alone the “B” standard) followed by the Round 1 (or QF) 8 hours later. Semi Finals and Finals are the next day, 2.5 hours apart, which is ideal fast times.
200 meters
For Men’s, the first 2 rounds are on Day 5 (9 hours apart), with the final on Day 6. This was different than Rio 2016 when they had 3 races on 3 consecutive days. Or back in the days of Michael Johnson with 4 x 200m rounds in 2 days.
400 meters
Now this one is interesting for the Men’s race, with races on Day 3, 4 and 7. That’s a 2 day break, unlike Rio 2016 with a one day break. Maybe they are predicting fast times, or another World Record for Wayde van Niekerk? I personally would not want to wait 2 whole days to run the Finals, then again, I won’t be running here anyways :)
200-400 meter Double?
Yes, this is possible, with 6 races in 5 days, but your legs will be fried by the time the 400m final is run, after 2 hard 200m races the previous day!
4×100 and 4×400 relays
The only strange scheduling is for the Women’s 4×400 where there is a rest day between heats and finals. This is good news if you only have 4 solid runners, and no swapping is needed from your pool of 6. These relays are the top 16 countries in the world. It’s go hard, or go home.
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