WRITTEN FOR THE LONDON 2017 WEBSITE ON BEHALF OF BRITISH ATHLETICS
London 2017 congratulates the city of Doha on its victory in being named the host of the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships yesterday afternoon.
The Qatari capital was announced as the winner of the 17th edition of the global championships by the IAAF council in Monaco, beating Eugene in a tight battle.
Joined in the race by Barcelona, the three candidate cities opened their bids in April with Doha impressing the IAAF Evaluation Commission (EVCOM) – led by IAAF vice president and London 2017 chairman, Lord Sebastian Coe – during their site visit in late October.
Doha – who lost out to London in November 2011 in its campaign to host the 2017 event – led the first round of voting with 12 votes to Eugene’s 9 and Barcelona’s 6.
With the Spanish out of the contest in the final round, Doha continued their stranglehold with a 15-12 victory over their American rivals to clinch the prestigious biennial event.
With its financial strength and current status as an IAAF Diamond League event, Doha claimed its comfortable win despite concerns around hosting the competition amidst the nation’s intense heat and humidity.
Benefiting from the support of Doha-born world indoor high jump champion, Mutaz Essa Barshim – who gave an inspired speech during the bidding process today – Doha plan to hold the championships between September 28 and Oct 6, 2019 and have proposed to hold the men’s and women’s marathons at night in cooler temperatures.
IAAF President, Lamine Diack commented:
“I am sure that in Doha we will have a wonderful edition of the World Championships.”
Diack also offered his thanks to Eugene and Barcelona: “They were the best presentations we have ever had,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani – the leader of the successful Doha bid – announced:
“It’s a privilege and honour to have the trust of the IAAF,” he said.
“I am very delighted that these Championships are going to be for the first time in the region.
“I’m confident that with the help of the IAAF, we will organiser one of the best World Championships.”
First staged in 1983, the IAAF World Championships are the jewel of the IAAF World Athletics Series. The 2015 edition will be held in Beijing’s 2008 Olympic stadium in China (22-30 August), with London playing host in 2017 in Britain’s 2012 Olympic stadium (5-13 August).
After the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, the IAAF World Championships are the third largest sporting event in the world based upon number of participating nations (over 200) and athletes (over 2,000), and global TV audience (6 billion across over 200 territories accumulated across 9 days of competition).
