Indoor track and field competition will be renamed ‘short track’ in a change by World Athletics which the governing body hopes will help grow the sport.<\/span><\/p>\n Indoor championships will remain but the move is intended to encourage “competition innovation”, with the traditional indoor 200m track providing flexibility for outdoor use in cities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Performances on outdoor or temporary 200m tracks would be recognised as official results, including records.<\/span><\/p>\n It will come into effect on 1 November.<\/span><\/p>\n World Athletics president Lord Coe said the change would open a “world of opportunities” for the sport and encourage growth through investment in new infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n “This change is designed to remove an unintentional barrier to competition innovation, by offering organisers the chance to explore solutions and opportunities which the current rules may discourage,” Coe said.<\/span><\/p>\n “Under this new concept, the 200m short track will no longer be confined to the indoor environment, and a world of opportunities will open up for meeting organisers to stage official competition in whatever facilities they have available.”<\/span><\/p>\n The governing body’s accompanying proposed new world-record list includes separate short-track records for events ranging from the 200m to the 5,000m.<\/span><\/p>\n Athletics has traditionally been divided between outdoor competition on a 400m track and indoor competition on a 200m track, however World Athletics said hybrid competition venues such as city squares had made the separation “increasingly difficult to maintain”.<\/span><\/p>\n
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