Nanjing is rearing its sporting prowess once again, as 11 names from all over the world have been announced as securing wildcards for next year’s World Indoor Athletics Championships that are to be held in the city.
After the sixth and final meeting of the 2019 IAAF World Indoor Tour brought the series to a close for another year, the athletes have booked their place at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020.
In addition to a winner-takes-all US$20,000 bonus, the 11 individual discipline winners, along with next year’s 11 winners, automatically qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships by wild card. The final decision about entering an individual athlete for the World Indoor Championships, as always, rests with the athlete’s national federation.
It means several national teams for next year’s World Indoor Championships will be boosted by the success of their athletes on the World Indoor Tour. Usually only two athletes per nation per discipline are allowed to enter the World Indoor Championships, but a wild card entry allows for a third athlete to compete.
The individual event winners of this year’s IAAF World Indoor Tour are as follows.
Men
- 400m – Nathan Strother (USA)
- 1500m – Samuel Tefera (ETH)
- 60m hurdles – Jarret Eaton (USA)
- High jump – Naoto Tobe (JPN)
- Long jump – Juan Miguel Echevarria (CUB)
Women
- 60m – Ewa Swoboda (POL)
- 800m – Habitam Alemu (ETH)
- 3000m – Alemaz Samuel (ETH)
- Pole vault – Anzhelika Sidorova (ANA)
- Triple jump – Yulimar Rojas (VEN)
- Shot put – Christina Schwanitz (GER)
According to an IAAF press release, the non-scoring disciplines in this year’s World Indoor Tour will become the 11 scoring disciplines for next year’s World Indoor Tour.
Nanjing is the first city in China to win the hosting of the IAAF World Indoor Championships. The international athletics governing body’s president Sebastian Coe announced the Nanjing award in November of 2017.
