Among the morning session finals are all five road events - the men's and women's marathons, the men's 50 kilometres race walk and the men's and women's 20km race walk events, although both 20km race walks are scheduled to take place in the early afternoon.

The other morning session finals are the women's 10,000 metres, the men's and women's discus, the men's triple jump, the men's and women's 3,000m steeplechase, the men's 400m hurdles and the women's hammer.

There is at least one final in all of the morning sessions.

The move, first approved during an IAAF Council meeting in Monte Carlo last month, will mark the first time an Olympic Games has featured finals during the morning sessions of the athletics programme since Seoul 1988.

It is believed that this schedule will satisfy television viewers across the world.

The men's triple jump will be held during a morning session at the Rio Olympics in 2016 ©Getty Images


"Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee," said IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy.

"Having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones."

The athletics showpiece event, the men's 100m final, is scheduled for the evening session on Sunday August 14, with the women's version taking place the evening before.

The 10 days of athletics competition at Rio 2016 due to be staged from August 12 through to the last day of the Games on August 21.

See the full athletics timetable for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by clicking here. 

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