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BIRMINGHAM WELCOMES THE WORLD THE EVENT FACTS AND FIGURES | LATEST NEWS | TIMETABLE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT
The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics takes places from the 14th –16th March at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. It is the most prestigious athletics event to be staged in the UK since the 1948 Olympic Games and more than 600 athletes from 121 different countries are taking part. Many of the world’s best athletes will be competing at the Championships including Maria Mutola from Mozambique and Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie. Both will be looking forward to returning to a venue where they have previously broken world records. The women’s 800m will feature the likes of Jolanda Ceplak and Stephanie Graf, lining up alongside Mutola and the pole vault will also be extremely competitive with America’s, Stacy Dragila up against Russian Svetlana Feofanova. The men’s triple jump will also be a clash of the titans with Britain’s Jonathan Edwards up against the pretender to his thrown Christian Olsson.
Daniel Caines Leading the British challenge for gold will be Britain’s most successful athlete Colin Jackson, sprinter Jason Gardener and triple jump heroine Ashia Hansen, along with Birmingham born Daniel Caines, who is Britain’s only reigning World Indoor Champion. BIRMINGHAM Birmingham is a ‘National City of Sport’ and has excellent pedigree when it comes to hosting international events and in recent years has staged both the Eurovision Song Contest and G8 Summit. The city has hosted more World and European Championships than any other UK city and just two months after the World Indoor Athletics Championships the city will stage the 13th World Badminton Championships. Birmingham is currently bidding to be the European Capital of Culture in 2008 and has been short listed for this title. Hosting a successful 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics should further strengthen chances of securing this accolade. OPENING CONCERT AND BIRMINGHAM CELEBRATIONS The Opening Concert for the Championships will be at Symphony Hall in Birmingham on Thursday March 13th and will be a spectacular 90 minutes of dazzling stage entertainment featuring world class performers and supported by stunning lighting and visual effects. It will be hosted by Roger Black and Sally Gunnell. A free public concert to celebrate the Championships will also take place in Birmingham’s main public square on Sunday 16th March. This will follow the city’s traditional St Patrick’s Day celebrations, including a parade around the city, which competing teams will be invited to watch. The celebrations will feature top British and Irish performers and culminate in a spectacular fireworks finale. THE NIA
Ashia Hansen The NIA is the home of British Indoor Athletics and houses the UK’s only six lane demountable track. The arena is purpose built for athletics and was built in 1992 with this event in mind. In the last ten years, eight world records have been set on the track, ensuring that the venue has an excellent reputation with the world’s best athletes. With a capacity of 8,000, the arena has all the facilities to stage
a top-class sports event, including an extensive warm up area, superb catering,
excellent hospitality suites and a fully equipped media suite.
• The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics will be held at the NIA from 14th-16th March 2003. • It will be the most significant athletics event to be staged in the UK since the 1948 Olympic Games. • 610 competitors from 121 different countries will be taking part. • UK Sport has given the event their biggest ever lottery award - £1.1 million. • Over 4,000 delegates, members of the media, competitors, VIPs and team officials are expected to visit the city during the championships. • The Economic impact of the Championships is expected to be in the region of £3.5 million. • More than 15,000 spectators will attend the Championships. • The event is expected to receive more than 350 hours of international TV Coverage. • The new state of the art Birmingham High Performance Centre, which opens on February 6th, will be the main training venue for the Championships. • Tickets for the Championships have sold out. • Four British athletes are acting as ambassadors for the championships; Daniel Caines, Ashia Hansen, Mark Lewis-Francis and Katharine Merry. UK Sport Announce Drug Testing Arrangements The Local Organising Committee for the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics today announced that UK Sport will be managing the anti-doping programme for the Championships. The anti-doping programme – which will include both urine and for the first time at the Championships, blood testing – will be the largest ever at an indoor event in the UK. Test will be conducted by UK Sport’s team of doping control officers, and the samples analysed in the International Olympic Committee accredited laboratory at King’s College London. Disability Events Added to World Indoor Timetable Two disability events have been added to the timetable for the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. This is the first time in the Championships 16 year history that events for disabled athletes have been included. On Friday March 14th there will be a 60m for women with Cerebral Palsey (T36) and on Sunday 16th March there will be an men’s 800m for arm amputees (T46). The athletes who have been invited to compete in the two events were selected based on their performances at last year’s IPC World Athletics Championships. Birmingham Launch New Mascot The mascot race at the Norwich Union Grand Prix saw the unveiling of Birmingham’s new mascot Invincibull! Vince, as he is known locally, is a powerful athlete and his favourite events are the 60m and shot put. The bull was selected as a suitable mascot for Birmingham because of the city’s historic Bull Ring markets which date back to medieval times. This centre is currently being re developed at a cost of £500 million. Shadow Games Five athletes from Birchfield Harriers have been selected to star in a unique series of giant movie projections. The images of four of the athletes, Deborah Brennan, Glen Smith, Kelly Sotherton and Phil Ferdinand will be projected onto the outside panels of the National Indoor Arena. Images of the fifth athlete, sprinter Curtis Browne, will be projected onto water screens on the canal at Brindleyplace. The projections will take place from 9pm until 2am from the 13th –16th of March. Making of the Medals The medals for the World Indoor Championships are currently being made in the city’s Jewellery Quarter. As well as bronze, silver and gold medals for the successful athletes, over 3,000 commemorative medals will be produced. These will be given to VIPs, volunteers, athletes and officials. Ribbon for the athlete’s medals is also being embroidered with the 2003 Birmingham logo in the Jewellery Quarter. Unique in Europe, Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter is home to a huge number of jewellery businesses operating in historic surroundings, which date back 250 years. The Jewellery Quarter also houses the world’s largest Assay Office, which has been in existence since 1773 and hallmarks between 40,000 and 70,000 precious metal items each working day. Development Programme An athletics development programme was launched in Birmingham by Olympic 400m bronze medallist Katharine Merry. The programme is part of the legacy of the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics and is being launched by Birmingham City Council and UK Athletics. The aim of the schemes is to encourage more young people to get involved and retain them in the sport. It is hoped that the programme will target nearly 10,000 people in the West Midlands region. Funding of £25K will come directly from the Championships budget but the total funding for the development scheme will be in excess of £60K and this includes contributions from Birmingham City Council, UK Athletics and the Youth Sport Trust. Birmingham’s Biggest Banner The biggest banner ever to be seen in Birmingham City Centre has been unveiled at Lancaster Circus. The banner features the city’s triple jump star Ashia Hansen and proclaims the Birmingham as a ‘World Championship City’, a title which it certainly lives up to having hosted more World and European Championships than any other UK city. A giant banner is also being displayed on the Town Hall and there are banners, pennants, flags and posters across the city centre to welcome the world and encourage local people to support the Championships. Adopt a Country St Clement’s CE Primary School in Nechells has been announced as the winner of the ‘Adopt a Country’ competition for the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. Local schools were asked to produce a montage to represent one of the competing nations at the Championships, which takes place at the NIA in just a week’s time. The winning montage represented India, one of 80 countries that were adopted as part of the scheme. The school’s prize for winning the competition is 30 tickets for the Friday of the Championships. Friday 14 March TIME EVENT MEN/WOMEN ROUND
Saturday 15 March TIME EVENT MEN/WOMEN ROUND
Sunday 16 March TIME EVENT MEN/WOMEN ROUND
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