THIRD SEASON OF IAAF INSIDE ATHLETICS LAUNCHED

The IAAF is excited to launch its third season of IAAF Inside Athletics, the online track and field show hosted by Ato Boldon.

There will be 20 episodes in this year’s series and they will be released on the first and third Tuesday of every month, appearing on both the IAAF website and the IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page.

Each episode will feature a prominent personality within the sport. This week’s episode is the first of a four-part series focusing on the high jump and features world indoor champion Mutaz Essa Barshim.

Subsequent episodes in that mini-series will feature 1968 Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, world record-holder Javier Sotomayor and 1987 world champion Patrik Sjoberg.

IAAF Inside Athletics has been a huge success over the past two years, engaging athletics fans across the world. Individual episodes were regularly seen by more than 60,000 people and several episodes topped 120,000 viewers.

Host Ato Boldon won the world 200m title in 1997 and is now a respected broadcaster, working for television networks around the world.

IAAF appoints Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes and Jackie Joyner-Kersee as Ambassadors to World Juniors in Eugene

The IAAF has appointed Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes and Jackie Joyner-Kersee as Ambassadors to the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, which will be held in Eugene, USA, between 22-27 July.
The trio will be very busy while in Oregon. Among their activities, they will conduct interviews with local and international media, provide their thoughts on the Championships live via various social media platforms, and be involved with the medal presentations.

They will also be doing media training for the athletes attending the Championships, including how best to present yourself via social media, and encouraging the competitors with motivational speeches and advice.

The spectators and the general public will get a chance to meet the Ambassadors in a specially constructed Fan Zone alongside the famous Hayward Field stadium.

“Being an Ambassador for this meet is the most important over all my other Ambassador duties. The World Juniors will always be a special meet for me because I won my first two World titles there, and it signalled to me that I could be a world class sprinter,” said Boldon, the 1997 IAAF World Championships 200m winner and now the host of IAAF Inside Athletics.

“Friends that I made at the World Juniors in 1992, like the USA’s Amy Acuff, Great Britain’s Darren Campbell and Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, are all friends to this day, so the friendships have endured. Making history as the first to ever do the sprint double at that meet is also high on my list of career accomplishments,” he added.

“I am honoured to be an ambassador for the 2014 World Junior Championships. To be part of such an important event is a humbling experience for me. To witness at first hand the future stars of our sport is very exciting for me,” said Hayes, the 2004 Olympic Games 100m hurdles champion.

“One of the important things that I would like to pass on to the new generation is that the legacy you leave starts now. How do you want to be remembered? Winning medals is always a goal and a huge part of our sport, it’s great to be remembered as a winner but having the respect and admiration of colleagues is also very important,” she added.

IAAF Hall of Fame member and three-time Olympic Games gold medallist Jackie Joyner-Kersee commented: “I take great pride being able to represent the IAAF as an Ambassador for the World Junior Championship this summer. My message to the next generation is a message of hope to continue to move our sport forward.”

IAAF launches second season of ‘IAAF Inside Athletics’

The IAAF is excited to launch its second season of ‘IAAF Inside Athetics’, a new social media video experience hosted by IAAF Athlete Ambassador Ato Boldon.

Beginning today, and exclusive to the IAAF, a new episode will appear on the IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook Page on the first and third Tuesday of every month up to and including 4 November: that’s 15 episodes in total!

Each episode will feature a prominent personality within the sport. In the first episode, the focus of attention is on France’s pole vault phenomenon Renaud Lavillenie.

Episodes two and three will feature Ethiopia’s indoor distance sensation Genzebe Dibaba and USA’s multi-talented, multi-events superstar Ashton Eaton.

As the title suggests, IAAF Inside Athletics will also regularly give an insight into what elite athletes experience during competition, so that fans will get to see what it is like in the call room before the event, how athletes manage stress, deal with the media and doping controls and how they find ways to relax on tour.

Fans will be able to interact and ask questions, either on Facebook or by email to insideathletics@iaaf.org

IAAF Inside Athletics was a huge success during its opening season in 2013, engaging athletics fans across the world, particularly teenagers.

Individual episodes were regularly seen by more than 60,000 people and several episodes topped 100,000 viewers.

The IAAF Inside Athletics host Ato Boldon had a distinguished international athletics career which spanned more than a decade.

The Trinidadian won four Olympic medals and four medals at the IAAF World Championships, including gold in the 200m in 1997. He is now a respected television broadcaster, working for TV networks around the world.