World Athletics Championships start in Qatar

ISTANBUL

The IAAF World Athletics Championships started in Doha, Qatar on Friday.

A total of 1,972 athletes, including 918 women, from 209 countries will participate in the sports event that will run through Oct. 6.

Turkey joins the championships in the Qatari capital with 20 athletes.

Qatar becomes the first Middle Eastern country to host the championships.

The champion of the 2017 tournament Ramil Guliyev will compete for Turkey in two categories, men’s 200 meters and men's 4×100 meters.

Guliyev will run to reclaim Men's 200m title to become the third athlete after Calvin Smith and Usain Bolt who won the race at least two times in a row.

Guliyev won the men's 200m race in the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London.

Meanwhile, the 16-time world medalist Allyson Felix will race for the first time after giving birth to a child.

Russia is banned from international competitions. So, 30 Russian athletes will take part in the competition as neutral athletes.

Here are Turkish athletes who will compete in Doha:

Men's categories:

200m: Ramil Guliyev

400m hurdles: Yasmani Copello Escobar

Triple jump: Necati Er

Hammer throw: Ozkan Baltaci

Marathon: Polat Kemboi Arikan, Mert Girmalegesse

4×100m: Ramil Guliyev, Jak Ali Harvey, Emre Zafer Barnes, Aykut Ay, Yigitcan Hekimoglu, Kayhan Ozer

20km race walk: Salih Korkmaz

Women's categories:

3,000m steeplechase: Tugba Guvenc, Ozlem Kaya

Marathon: Elvan Abeylegesse, Fadime Suna Celik

Javelin throw: Eda Tugsuz

Shot put: Emel Dereli

20km race walk: Meryem Bekmez, Ayse Tekdal