Morning sessions have been scrapped at next year's World Athletics Championships in Doha to avoid the expected hot weather ©Getty Images

Morning sessions have been scrapped at next year's World Athletics Championships in Doha to avoid the expected hot weather with organisers also confirming the event will feature the first midnight marathon.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has revealed split evening sessions, including a one-hour break, will replace morning sessions to combat fears over athletes competing in the worst of the heat in the Qatari capital. 

Organisers and the IAAF are risking low crowds, however, with many events due to be held in the late evening and beyond midnight.

The World Championships in the Gulf nation will take place from September 26 until October 6, when average high temperatures are 37 degrees with a low of 25.

The competition schedule reveals the women's 100 metres, for example, will take place at 11.20pm and the women's 400m at 11.50pm.

Marathon races will begin at midnight, with the winners crossing the line shortly after 2am local time.

The IAAF also confirmed the event in Doha would be the first World Championships to feature a mixed 4x400m relay after the race was added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme.

The World Championships in the Qatari capital will take place from September 26 until October 6 ©Getty Images
The World Championships in the Qatari capital will take place from September 26 until October 6 ©Getty Images

Critics of the decision to award the 2019 World Championships to Doha urged the IAAF to try different things to build on the success of London 2017.

"We have some great World Championship firsts," said IAAF President Sebastian Coe. 

"The first 4x400m mixed relay will have its global debut ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the first midnight marathon, the evening sessions with semi-finals and finals only and dedicated slots in the timetable for the final stages of field events allowing full focus on the decisive and most thrilling moments and attempts.  

"We are looking forward to seeing how these firsts and the engagement format will come together next year to deliver a World Championships that will look and feel different."

Fears over low numbers of spectators have been one of the main concerns in the build-up to the event, along with human rights abuses, Qatar's current isolation in the Middle East and lingering corruption concerns over the way the event was awarded.

Former UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner had claimed last year that he had been warned by a "senior IAAF official" that Qatari officials were handing out brown envelopes on the eve of the vote for the 2017 World Championships - where they were beaten by London.