The Paris Olympics are about to witness the main event—the athletics competition. Before the games, L’Equipe wrote an article introducing the new format for this edition of the Olympics, where a “repechage round” will be added to events ranging from 200m to 1500m, giving athletes who failed to advance from the heats to the semi-finals a second chance.
Under the new format, these athletics competitions will change from the original “heats-semi-finals-final” to “heats-repechage round-semi-finals-final”.
Speaking about this change in format, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, “We consulted with athletes and broadcasters and believe that this adjustment simplifies the competition for both athletes and broadcasters, making it easier to promote the events. During the Paris Olympics, the repechage rounds will also generate greater interest in athletics.”
