体坛英语新闻：Rio 2016 Olympics to feature 13 morning session athletics finals

PARIS, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 13 finals will take place in morning sessions at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced on Monday.

Among the morning session finals are all five road events - the men's and women's marathons, the men's 50 kilometers race walk and the men's and women's 20km race walk events, although both 20km race walks are scheduled to take place in the early afternoon.

The other morning session finals are the women's 10,000 meters, the men's and women's discus, the men's triple jump, the men's and women's 3,000m steeplechase, the men's 400m hurdles and the women's hammer.

The decision, approved during an IAAF Council meeting in Monte Carlo last month, means the Olympic Games will feature finals during the morning sessions of the athletics program since Seoul 1988.

"Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee," said IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy.

"Having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones."

The athletics showpiece event, the men's 100m final, is scheduled for the evening session on Sunday August 14, with the women's version taking place the evening before.

The 10 days of athletics competition at Rio 2016 due to be staged from August 12 through to the last day of the Games on August 21.