In all, 374 visa cases have been referred to a combined group of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Oregon 22 and World Athletics, the spokesperson said, adding that 255 cases have been resolved so far and 99 cases are still pending. are unresolved.
It is the first time the World Athletics Championships will be held in the US and is the most important track and field event in the country since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Former US sprinter and four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson said the situation was “ridiculous”.
,[Seb] Coe and Max [Siegel] Said that these World Champs are an opportunity to grow the sport in America. But no strategy given,” Johnson added in a later tweet.
“I said it wouldn’t work if the strategy was not put into action to insure step #1 would these champs succeed. Like insuring people can get visas a notoriously difficult process?”
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanayala, who set an African 100m record of 9.77 seconds last year and is the third fastest man in the world this season, is one of the most high-profile names to experience visa issues.
The 26-year-old was lucky that those issues were eventually resolved, but will arrive in Eugene, Oregon, less than three hours before the men’s 100m heats begins on Friday, according to the BBC.