IAAF: Previous failures could hurt London 2017 bid 25/11/2010 |
|
| |
| |
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) general secretary Pierre Weiss has suggested that London's bid to host the 2017 World Championships could be damaged by Britain's three previous failures to secure the event.
A bid to host the 2003 championships had to be shelved after plans to build an athletics track in the new national stadium at Wembley were abandoned.
London was then awarded the 2005 championships after the then-Prime Minister Tony Blair personally promised that the Government would build a brand new stadium at Picketts Lock.
But the Government backtracked on the Picketts Lock plan and tried to move the event to Sheffield.
The IAAF, however, rejected the offer and instead awarded the championships to Helsinki at the last minute.
Meanwhile, the latest failure for the 2015 World Championships happened at the beginning of this month after the Government claimed it was unable to commit to backing the event.
Beijing was awarded the 2015 championships as the only bidder and Weiss admits that Britain's consistent failures over past decade are likely to linger in the minds of the voters.
"Of course we were all very disappointed when London pulled out of the bid to host 2015 and I think our friends at UK Athletics were also very disappointed about that too," he told Inside the Games.
"It is the third time this has happened and now, in 2017, that will certainly be in the back of everyone's minds.
"People will wonder if London is really serious this time."
But Weiss did offer the London bid hope by insisting that it remains a strong contender to host the competition because of the stature of the city and its strong athletics background.
"The event will go to the city which puts forward the best technical bid as has always been the case in the past," he added.
"There is no doubt that London has the capacity to host a wonderful event in 2017.
"They have a great history in athletics and if they are serious about hosting the event this time, they will be very strong contenders to stage it.
"However, the past failures do not reflect very well on them and everyone knows that."
|
| Back |
| |
| |
|
|
 |
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
