European 50km walk race likely to start earlier due to heat

Berlin : The 50-kilometer walk race on Tuesday at the European Athletics Championships is likely to start one hour earlier than planned due to the hot weather, organisers said on Sunday.

Organizing committee chief executive Frank Kowalski said they were looking to start Tuesday's event at 8 a.m. local time, instead of 9 a.m, reports Xinhua news agency.

A temperature of 36 degrees Celsius is forecast for Tuesday. The following day could even see the temperature rise close to the 40 degrees mark before cooler weather sets in on Thursday.

The 50km walk takes around three hours 30 minutes for men and over four hours for women.

Kowalski put the athletes' health as "a top priority" and said they were in talks with broadcasters and others including doctors.

Kowalski said organisers were ready for the week-long championships in Berlin's Olympic stadium, as were the streets of the German capital, where some 1,600 athletes from 51 countries will be competing from Monday.