CONCERNS over athlete welfare under sweltering conditions in Tokyo have forced World Athletics Championships organisers to start road events earlier than initially planned.

The temperature in the Japanese capital is expected to reach at least 30°C for the majority of the championships, which begin on Saturday, with humidity pushing the “feels like” factor closer to 40°C on some days.

As a result, World Athletics has moved the race walk and marathon forward by half an hour, in order to put “the highest priority on athletes’ health and safety.”

A World Athletics statement read: “Due to expected elevated heat conditions that could pose a health and safety risk to competing athletes, all road events on the first three days of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 will start 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.

“The start time for the road events had originally been set at 8.00am in consideration of climate conditions, operational aspects, and maximising spectator attendance. However, despite the World Championships being scheduled for mid-September when temperatures were expected to be lower than during the summer in Tokyo, levels this year have remained at those of midsummer.

“Reflecting the current environment, World Athletics (WA) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC), in consultation with the World Athletics Health & Science Department, have taken this decision that puts the highest priority on athletes’ health and safety, and it has been communicated to the athletes as early as possible to allow them to prepare and adjust to the new start time.

“Both WA and the LOC are fully committed to making the World Championship the best possible experience for athletes and a successful event.”

The rescheduling affects the women’s and men’s 35km race walk on Saturday, the women’s marathon on Sunday, and the men’s marathon on Monday.

World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said the new start times were based on the advice of his organisation’s health and science team, who assured him the 30 minutes would make a “significant difference to the athletes.”

He added: “You may have heard our president, Seb Coe [saying] the challenge of staging endurance road races within our championships, because of the warming climate around the world, is becoming an increasingly significant challenge that we are very aware of.

“We have made the decision to stage our world championships in September going forward, which should help, but I think we need to embrace the reality that probably the start times of our road races need to be made earlier than they traditionally have been.”