An innovative new athletics team competition billed as the future of the sport has been unveiled here today to feature at the second European Games in Minsk in 2019. The event, entitled Dynamic New Athletics (DNA), will feature the continent's top 30 ranked nations competing across 10 events in a maximum time of two hours. They will be split into different heats in a knock-out format which is expected to last around five days and see each team compete in between two and four different matches. Teams will be made up of nine women, eight men and six reserves. The final event, a mixed-distance pursuit relay known as the "Hunt", will determine the winner with starting positions based on the number of points each team has accumulated throughout the previous nine. There will be no endurance events, however, with figures involved in the event claiming that their research has indicated less interest in these events from stakeholders including sponsors and spectators. The five other track events would be the men’s and women’s 100 metres, the men’s 110m hurdles, the women’s 100m hurdles and the mixed 4x400m relay. The three field events, held in a head-to-head knock-out format, proposed are the women’s long jump, men’s javelin throw and women’s high jump. Set to complete the line-up is a one-man and one-woman Mini'Athlon combined event, entailing running, jumping and throwing.
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1058255/new-mixed-gender-athletics-team-event-confirmed-to-feature-at-second-european-games"We have conducted research with broadcasters, young people, social media etc. and these are the formats and events we want.
"Each match will last around the length of a football match - so will suit shorter attention spans.
"Other events, including endurance races, are too long rather than short and snappy.
"We have the full support of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) and expect this to be the future of the sport."