London beats Doha to host 2017 World Athletics Championships

London beats Doha to host 2017 World Athletics Championships

2011-11-12 06:01:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

MONACO (BNO NEWS) -- The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Friday selected London over Doha for the right to host the 16th edition of the World Athletics Championships in 2017.

London won the vote 16 to 10, said IAAF President Lamine Diack. "We had never in the history of the bidding process for the IAAF World Championships this type of ceremony with this amount of interest in the TV and newspapers and so on," he said. "We have never had this level before with bids all good and London won 16 to 10 votes, and the result is good for our sport."

Doha, the capital city of Qatar, lost its bid to host the major athletics event. "I pay tribute to them, especially with the new ideas they presented and I hope they will bid again in the future," Diack said, referring to Qatar.

London has proposed to host the event in late July or early August to avoid clashes with European and American football events. It will use its Olympic Stadium, built originally for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which has a capacity of approximately 60,000, and officials believe the stadium will be fully sold out during every game.

"This is great news both for London and the whole country," British Prime Minister David Cameron said. "There is no better way to follow the Olympics, and to build on its legacy, than by welcoming the world's greatest athletes back to London for the 2017 World Championships."

He added: "We are determined to make 2017 the most successful World Athletics Championships there has ever been and we look forward to welcoming athletes and fans from the world over to our vibrant, multicultural, sports-mad capital."

London Mayor Boris Johnson also welcomed the announcement, saying the city's team had put together a 'cracking bid' which paid off with Friday's news. "In addition to athletics it will host a variety of sports competitions including football as well as a range of other events from major concerts to community activities," he said. "I am absolutely thrilled for London."

It will be the first time for England to host the World Athletics Championships, which were first held in Helsinki in Finland in 1983. It was originally organized every four years, but the event has been held biennially since 1991.

London was originally chosen to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships, but the IAAF reversed its decision after the British government abandoned its original plans to build a 43,000-capacity stadium in the north of London. The 2005 games were eventually awarded to Helsinki.

Before the games in London, the Russian capital of Moscow is scheduled to host the 2013 games, followed by the Chinese capital of Beijing in 2015.

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