Press release

We conclude our Area in Focus series look at Africa with a selection of images which show how athletes from the area have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.

World bronze medallist Moh Ahmed and US champion Shelby Houlihan made significant improvements on the North American 5000m records at a low-key competition at Jesuit High School in Portland on Friday night (10).

While Africa is often associated with distance running, athletes from the continent have also left an indelible mark on the sprints at major championships.

The World Athletics Heritage Plaque, which was awarded to the Athens Marathon in 2019, has been unveiled in the Greek capital at the offices of SEGAS, the Greek athletics federation.

Learning to train away from the watchful eye of your coach is something many athletes have got used to this year, but for Mark Otieno Odhiambo, that’s business as usual.

Allyson Felix notched a pair of impressive victories to highlight the Inspiration Games, the Zurich Diamond League organisers' entertaining and innovative answer to the global coronavirus pandemic that brought together 30 athletes competing in seven venues across two continents on Thursday (9).

Polish middle distance ace Marcin Lewandowski will be targeting the national 2000m record at the 2nd Irena Szewinska Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, which will inaugurate the country’s athletics season on 19 August in Bydgoszcz.

Excitement is fast building up in Africa as Nairobi prepares to host a round of the inaugural World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series on 26 September.

When 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Ese Brume flew into Nigeria in March, it was part of a straightforward plan: to compete at the National Sports Festival – Nigeria’s biggest multi-sport competition - and then return to Cyprus where she has been based since 2016 as an undergraduate at Eastern Mediterranean University.

World discus champion Daniel Stahl’s first-round throw of 68.10m at the Folksam Grand Prix withstood a sustained challenge from fellow Swede Simon Pettersson at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Karlstad on Wednesday (8).

While half of the world is starting to ease their way out of lockdown, most countries in Africa are still awaiting the green light from their governments to resume normal day-to-day activities. For thousands of athletes on the continent, that means being able to return to training facilities and competitions.

When Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo started plotting out their 2020 season at the end of last year, they probably anticipated lining up against one another at roughly this time of year.