200 day countdown begins for IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018.
Today is not only the final day of the IAAF World Championships London 2017 but it also marks just 200 days to go until the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018.
The Championships will be staged from 1st-4th March and around 400 athletes from an estimated 150 countries are expected to be back in Britain for the event.
Preparations for the Championships have been going well with the timetable approved, around a third of tickets already sold and the event will be staged in a tried and tested venue, Arena Birmingham (formerly the NIA), which has hosted indoor athletics for 25 years.
Tickets are due to go on public sale on Monday 21st August, with those signed-up via www.wicbirmingham2018.com set to get an hours head start on purchasing the remaining tickets before they go on general sale.
UK Athletics’ Chief Executive Niels de Vos said: “’For everyone who has loved the drama of the IAAF World Championships currently being hosted in London, you can now look forward to more of the same in six months’ time when the IAAF World Indoor Championships come to Birmingham. The best ever summer IAAF World Championships will be followed up by Britain delivering the best ever IAAF World Indoor Championships.”
The IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 is being jointly organised by British Athletics and Birmingham City Council and the team in Birmingham has a great deal of experience in staging world class athletics events, having previously organised the same event in 2003, the European Indoor Championships in 2007 and the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2009.
Councillor Ian Ward, Deputy Leader for Birmingham City Council said: “We are very excited to be hosting the IAAF World Indoor Championships in just 200 days’ time. When we won the right stage this event in 2013, it seemed a long way off but now it will be here before we know it and we can’t wait. Watching the world’s best athletes compete in London over the last ten days, and witnessing some of their amazing performances, has truly inspired us and we want to ensure that we deliver the best possible Championships.”
But Birmingham won’t have to wait until March to welcome some of the greatest athletes in the world as the city’s Alexander Stadium will be hosting the Muller Grand Prix Birmingham in just a week’s time. This event, which is part of the IAAF Diamond League series, will see the final race on a British track for Mo Farah and the Birmingham crowd will also welcome many of Britain’s World Para Athletics Championships medallists.