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The International Atheltics Federation, IAAF, has chosen London to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships, five years after organising the 2012 Olympic Games. London won the vote over Doha for the right to stage the global showpiece for the first time, thus fulfilling a promise of a legacy for track and field. London and Doha were the only candidates for the 2017 showpiece.
The IAAF announced the decision favouring London after a head-to-head battle among the council members by 16 votes to 10
London's bid, backed by more than 100 top athletes, past and present, had promised a "wealth of expertise and experience, a proven track record of commercial success and a stadium packed full of passionate fans".
London's victory swept away any lingering doubts over the future of the Olympic Stadium for track and field following the protracted dispute between soccer clubs West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
The uncertainty ended last month when the IAAF was given a signed legal document from the British government guaranteeing the athletics track would be maintained at the Olympic Stadium regardless of which soccer club moved in after the 2012 Games.
Under the terms of new arrangements for the stadium to remain in public ownership, athletics is guaranteed at the Stratford venue for 99 years.
IAAF president Lamine Diack had warned London had no chance of hosting the 2017 worlds if it did not retain the track, so British Olympics chief Sebastian Coe, who spearheaded the 2017 bid.said that the maintenance of the track and field legacy was absolutely crucial.
"It will be such an honour to host our sport's showcase event in the Olympic Stadium and realise a personal and professional dream," Coe said.
London's bid team, embraced each other after Diack opened a gold envelope to reveal the victors.
Prime Minister David Cameron, said in a statement: “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."
Qatar, which will host the 2022 soccer World Cup and is ploughing vast sums into its goal of establishing the desert nation as a major sporting hub, offered the IAAF huge cash incentives totalling over $236 million as part of its bid.
It proposed underwriting an $80 million budget for the event, spending $120 million on construction, $29 million on guaranteeing sponsorship for all events leading up to 2017 and covering the $7.2 million prize fund for the championships. But the Gulf state will have to wait for another day.
London, that had to banish unhappy memories of previous failed attempts to host the biennial world championships of track and field also offered to underwrite the prize money, while saying it could raise $1 billion in sponsorship revenues.
London was awarded the 2005 championships in 2001 but had to give up the opportunity to Helsinki when a proposed new stadium at Picketts Lock in North London was deemed too expensive. It also ditched a bid for the 2015 event because of the legal wrangle over the Olympic Stadium's future tenant.
The 2013 championships will be staged in Moscow with Beijing hosting the showpiece event two years later. |
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