QuickTake:

The World Athletics U20 Championships begin Wednesday in Eugene. Smoke from wildfires continues to drift into Lane County, prompting authorities to issue an air-quality advisory and organizers of the track and field event said they’re carefully watching air quality.

Organizers of the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships, scheduled to begin Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, said they’re monitoring local air quality ahead of the five-day meet as smoke from wildfires continued to drift into the area.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said at a press conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, that the global governing body is working with local health authorities and its own air quality monitoring team.

“I’m very lucky to be president of the sport that has the world’s best health and science team,” Coe said. “They’re with me, and they will make all the right judgments at the right moment.” 

He did not specify at the press conference what options were under consideration, but said he would rely on both authorities and World Athletics experts.

He said Dr. Stephane Bermon, director of the World Athletics Health and Science Department, “has done this on many, many occasions — handling of heat, the handling of intense cold, the air condition, air quality.”

The World Athletics U20 Championships feature top track and field athletes under the age of 20. Athletes entered in the meet have been practicing at local high schools throughout the week, and visited Hayward Field Tuesday.

Meanwhile, smoke from wildfires in central Oregon continued to drift into Lane County,  leading the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) to issue an air advisory through Thursday. The agency stated in a news release that a nightly inversion over the valley floor “holds smoke near the ground, so concentrations will run highest overnight and during the early morning hours. The inversion breaks during the day, which should bring some improvement each afternoon.”

The agency’s news release also said that a “weather change is expected Friday that may bring cleaner air to Lane County, though the timing remains uncertain.”

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, the agency said the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Eugene was 171, rated as “unhealthy.” (The Air Quality Index rates air quality on a scale from zero to 500; higher numbers indicate worse conditions.)

When the Air Quality Index hits 150, the Oregon Health Authority recommends postponing general youth sports activities.

The Oregon Air Quality Activity Guide for Children and Youth — a general guide produced by the health authority and not specific to the World Athletics meet — says that most youth athletes, whom it designates as 18 years of age or younger, should be safe throughout the week if the Air Quality Index is under 150.

The guide designates that children and youth with health conditions should be allowed to opt out of activities lasting between one and four hours, or moved to a safer area if the activity will last more than four hours and index levels are in the 51-100 range.

A spokesperson for the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) said Tuesday that, in theory, AQI levels over 150 would force daily cancellation of its own annual outdoor track and field championships, also held at Hayward Field. But World Athletics does not necessarily use those same guidelines.

The meet is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. with the women’s heptathlon 100-meter hurdles.

Correction: The name of World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.