No Athletics For London Without Stadium

BethPH
By BethPH Last edited 150 months ago
No Athletics For London Without Stadium

If London is to hold on to its chance of hosting the 2017 world athletics championships, it must hold on to its stadium, International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) president Lamine Diack said today in an interview with Reuters.

Crystal Palace, the current home of athletics has also been vetoed as a venue. Diack said:

‘It is not the place to organise a world championships.We had the World Cup (of Athletics) there in 1994. It was not good. It was very difficult to find the place.’

London has been one of the contenders for the event along with Doha and Barcelona, but uncertainty over the future of the Olympics stadium after 2012 has clearly left the IAAF in a quandary. West Ham football club are now set to take over the stadium although they have said they will continue to host athletics events. The club won their bid for post-Olympics occupation but found themselves on the receiving end of a sliding tackle in court from rival bidders Tottenham Hotspur who are seeking a reversal of the decision.

The winning city for the 2017 event will be decided by the IAAF in November.


Photo by Alex_Pink

Last Updated 03 September 2011