Images from cameras built into the starting blocks at the World Athletics Championships in Doha will be censored following objections from female athletes.
The cameras – which were in use for the first time and promised to “provide innovative angles on the competition,” according to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) – showed images of athletes’ intimate areas, prompting criticism from German sprinters Tatjana Pinto and Gina Lückenkemper.
![Gina Lückenkemper (left) competes in the women's 100 meters heats at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on September 28, 2019.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/190930165304-doha-gina-luckenkemper.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Lückenkemper said that standing on top of the cameras wearing short running shorts was “really not comfortable.”
“I as a woman find that quite stupid,” she said in a statement released by her spokesman.
“And I have said I would doubt that a woman was part of the development of that (the cameras).”
Officials from the German Athletics Federation (DLV) contacted the IAAF following complaints from Pinto and Lückenkemper.
![The starting block cameras made sprinter Gina Lückenkemper "really not comfortable."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/190930125911-doha-starting-block-camera-restricted.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
The IAAF will now restrict the use of images from the cameras, according to a statement from the DLV.
CNN has reached out to the IAAF for comment.
This year’s World Championships have been plagued by poor attendance, with the 40,000-capacity Khalifa International Stadium struggling to attract the number of spectators expected for such a major international sporting event.
Both the men’s and women’s 100-meter finals were run in front of a partially empty stadium, with only the distance events attracting a more respectable crowd.