World Masters Athletics 2023 WMACI Toruń,News 2023 WMA Championship – getting ready to impress

2023 WMA Championship – getting ready to impress

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Dear Masters Athletes, Officials, Volunteers, Members and Regions,

I hope we will see you in Toruń. It was a great Championship in 2019. We all want to make it even better this time.

When I wrote last, I was still recovering from the extra busy time spent in Tampere. Most of you that attended were treated to another wonderful Championship. However, everything was not up to our expectations. The impact of COVID and short preparation time was significant. Great things come from overcoming adversity!

You deserve World Championship level competitions and an exceptional competitive experience. We are determined to exceed your expectations. Changes needed to be made so we could meet our high standards for our Championships.

The upcoming WMACI 2023 will again have only a short preparation window. However, we identified root causes of issues and implemented plans that ensure you have a great experience, and everything meets our expectations.

Some issues were caused by not enough attention to the details often because there were not enough people to check and do things. Our resolution is easier than the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) because we are fortunate to have a large, worldwide network of experts willing to help.

Using our worldwide, larger team has enabled us to:

  • Increase technical inspections where LOC plans and competition site quality are reviewed.
  • Maintain constant contact with LOC to verify plans above are on track and on time.
  • Review details on Championship website, which is maintained by the LOC, to help make sure everything needed is there and can be accessed intuitively.
  • Better plan and collaborate with LOC representative in charge of technical official appointments.
  • Use combined WMA and LOC team expertise to assess and negotiate contracted services (i.e., the photo-finish company).

The LOC and WMA have also been working on ensuring the Championship is well staffed. The maximum number of International Volunteer Officials (IVO) will be used. This means there are additional, capable officials that can complement the LOC workforce.

We started including the LOC’s Competition Director for our next Championship in the Championship Management Team in Tampere. He was able to see the Championship from a different perspective. Things run smoother when LOC and WMA understand from each other’s perspective. The LOC and WMA team is in constant contact.

Thank you to Alan Bell’s, WMA’s Vice President of Competition, and the LOC teams for their excellent preparations by focusing on details and applying the team’s expertise. Based on what we are seeing so far, WMACI 2023 will be exceptional, and we will keep refining this model to ensure future Championships are as well. Alan’s team will provide an update here in a month.

Warm regards,
Margit Jungmann
WMA President