IOF introduces interim heat policy

IOF introduces interim heat policy

The IOF Council has decided to introduce an interim heat policy that comes into effect immediately for all IOF events covered by IOF Competition Rules with expected winning times of 20 minutes or greater.

The interim policy has been developed by IOF Medical Experts and contains guidelines to ensure that competitions are not held in weather conditions that may be dangerous to competitors, officials or spectators.

In these interim guidelines, IOF has adopted the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) as an indicator of heat stress. The WBGT is an index which combines temperature, humidity, solar exposure and wind and is used by a number of international sporting federations and in the heat health community more broadly.

IOF recommends that organisers consider cancellation or postponement of events when the WBGT exceeds 30°C to 32°C.

The guidelines contain instructions for calculating the WBGT score and can be found in full here under the “Generic documents and templates”-folder.

The new, interim heat policy is a precursor for a permanent heat policy, which is expected prior to the 2026 northern hemisphere summer.

IOF will ensure that all relevant organizers receive information about the new, interim guidelines and how they should be complied with in practice.

Questions can be addressed to IOF Secretary General Sondre Gullord.