World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023: 6 things you must know before the tournament opener

The most awaited event in the athletics world, the 2023 World Athletics Championships will commence in Budapest on August 19, 2023. The mega event will be held for nine days till August 27, 2023, with more than 2000 athletes competing from around 200 countries.

The event will feature a few great names, including Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas, Sha'Carri Richardson, and Ryan Crouser.

The 2023 World Athletics Championships will witness a few changes from the previous ones, including lane draws to athlete replacement policies.

On that note, let's take a look at six things that you need to know before the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 begins.

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#1 Lane Draws in Budapest

For the Budapest World Athletics Championships, organizers have made changes in lane lotteries after the first round for all the track events.

Draws	All (old lane)	Straight (new lane)	200m (new lane)	400m (new lane)
Top-ranked	3, 4, 5, 6	3, 4, 5, 6	5, 6, 7	4, 5, 6, 7
Next ranked	7, 8	2, 7	3, 4, 8	3, 8
Last ranked	1, 2	1, 8	1, 2	1, 2

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#2 Middle Distance Qualification to next round

Previously the athletes competing in middle-distance events used to qualify on the basis of time. Given the lack of knowledge of what time is required to qualify by the athletes, they will qualify purely on the basis of positions in Budapest.

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#3 Athlete replacement policy

In the upcoming World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, if any of the lanes are left empty due to the withdrawal of any athlete, it will be filled by the next-best ranked athlete. This rule is applied to the finals and semi-finals in all events. No re-draw of lanes or re-ordering of attempts will be considered.

Two athletes will be considered for replacement. The next best athlete or team will be put on notice to wait for any possible withdrawals.

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#4 The q room

A "q room" has been set up in Budapest for the athletes of all sprinting events and 800m for non-automatic qualifiers to wait and see if they have advanced in case of possible withdrawals.

The room is equipped with a TV, foam rollers, refreshments, stretch bands, and kits. The room will have TV cameras for fans to watch how the outcome unrolls. The athletes will have access to their coaches. Athletes can stay in the room for up to 20 minutes.

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#5 Running under protest

Athletes have previously been allowed to run under protest if a start referee had doubts over the legality of a false start charge, but not if the false start was indicated by a World Athletics-certified start information system.

When the reaction time is close to the allowed limit i.e. 0.100, any movement may hardly be visible. Now in such cases, if the start referee feels the start requires further study, the referee may allow the athlete to run under protest.

For any run under protest, a final decision is taken by the referee and is in turn subject to an appeal to the jury. Athletes will not be eligible to run under protest if the false start has been identified by a fully operational start information system or where the false start is clearly visible.

The start referee will declare the decisions to the spectators and the television viewers.

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#6 Throwing equipment

Previously the throwers were not allowed to throw their equipment if their model were of the same manufacturing unit as the one provided by the organizers. But this rule has been lifted in World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023.