AYANA WINS PERFORMANCE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, POWERED BY ADIDAS

Each day during the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 fans from around the world had the opportunity to vote for their favourite performances of the session via the IAAF website http://www.iaaf.org.

Fans inside the Bird’s Nest stadium could also vote live via WeChat (a Chinese social media channel).

The nine winners of the daily vote were then pooled together for a ‘champion of champions’ vote, which was open from Monday 31 August until Friday 4 September, for fans around the world to vote via the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 page and spikes.iaaf.org

© Spikes

Almaz Ayana’s stunning triumph over her Ethiopian compatriot and 1500m winner Genzebe Dibaba in the 5000m received 23.84% of the overall votes and she wins Performance of the Championships, powered by adidas.

The vote for the top three performances were completed by Ashton Eaton’s decathlon world record on Day 8 (17.15%) and Dafne Schippers’ championship record 200m run on Day 7 (14.68%).

Ayana will be invited to the World Athletics Gala in November to receive a special Golden Shoe award from adidas.

IAAF and Spikes

PRESIDENT DIACK: “THE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015 HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL… THANK YOU CHINA!”

The concluding joint IAAF and Local Organising Committee (LOC) press conference at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 took place before the start of the last day of athletics in the Bird’s Nest stadium on Sunday (30).

Guests included IAAF President Lamine Diack, IAAF President elect Sebastian Coe, IAAF General Secretary Essar Gabriel, LOC Executive Chairman and Assistant Director of General Administration of Sport of China Gao Zhidan, LOC Deputy Chairman and Director of the Athletic Administration Centre of General Administration of Sport of China Du Zhaocai, and LOC Executive Secretary General and Vice Minister of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports Chen Jie.

“The IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 have been wonderful,” opened President Diack, who spoke about the spectator number in the stadium, the increased TV audiences of these championships and also the IAAF’s medical and anti-doping programme in Beijing.

“The testing figures are interim data. We will confirm full anti-doping statistics by press release on Tuesday but this is the most comprehensive testing programme of any sport in the past two years,” emphasised Diack.

“More than 650 blood tests were conducted at the athlete hotels prior, and during, the world championships. More than 520 urine tests conducted at the stadium and at the hotels,” he added.

photo credit © Getty Images for IAAF

IAAF President elect Coe announced major increases in the IAAF website and social media audiences over the previous edition of the championships two years ago in Moscow.

“The IAAF’s strategy to attract a younger audience to athletics via the online promotion of the sport has received a massive boost in Beijing. The IAAF’s responsive website, which fits on any device, has got users around the world,” said Coe.

Two weeks to go – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

There are just two weeks to go to the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 which takes place between 22-30 August.
Many of the IAAF?s 214 Member Federations have already named their teams for the most important sporting event on this year?s calendar but with the final entry deadline at midnight (Central European Time) on Monday 10 August, this weekend offers the last chance for athletes to qualify and for Member Federations to complete their squad selections.

IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

Approximately 2000 athletes from over 200 nations are expected to compete in the Chinese capital later this month.
The USA and Jamaica have yet to formally name their teams but it is already known that global champions like Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, David Oliver, Christian Taylor, Ashton Eaton, Jenn Suhr and Brittney Reese have booked their places on the planes to Beijing.

Russia named their 71-strong team in the wake of their national championships earlier this week.

Other European nations to have named their teams include Czech Republic, France, Germany and Great Britain.
Distance running power houses Kenya and Ethiopia have also named their teams early and can expect to feature prominently on the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 medal podiums.

The famous Bird?s Nest stadium, the centrepiece of the 2008 Olympic Games, will have a 50,000 capacity for the championships and the IAAF and Local Organising Committee have been very happy to announce recently that it will be full for each evening session, ensuring the world?s top athletics exponents get the audience they deserve.
The IAAF website has a special section devoted to the championships.

photo credit Rising Fan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode

Coverage of the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 will include live results, previews, reports, features, a live blog and extensive coverage on the IAAF social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

Results, timetable details and the live blog will also be available in Chinese on the IAAF website and coverage will be available on Chinese social media
IAAF

BIRD’S NEST STADIUM TO BE FULL FOR EVENING SESSIONS AT IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015

IAAF President Lamine Diack has welcomed the news from the Local Organising Committee of the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 that the Bird’s Nest stadium will be full for all the evening sessions at the championships.

The IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 will take place between 22-30 August.

“I am delighted to hear that the latest sales chart indicates that we will have a full house for all the evening sessions and that for the morning sessions the stadium will be at around 90% capacity. This is a magnificent effort from everyone involved with the Local Organising Committee,” commented President Diack.

“I can only reiterate what I said recently, I am now convinced that we will have a great atmosphere in the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the world’s top sporting event of 2015, and I would like to thank our friends in China – especially the Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China Liu Peng and the Mayor of Beijing Wang Anshun – for stepping up their efforts in the promotional campaign,” added President Diack.

photo credit Rising Fan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode

“I am sure that these championships will capture the imagination of everyone who is in the stadium in person and the hundreds of millions of viewers on television around the world; and that they will leave a lasting impression and legacy, especially on the youth of China.”

IAAF

LAMINE DIACK URGES MORE PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS FROM BEIJING 2015

With just over a month to go before the start of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, IAAF President Lamine Diack has urged organisers to step up promotional efforts to ensure that the Bird’s Nest Stadium becomes, again, a motivating and inspiring stage for the world’s best athletes.

President Diack, currently in Cali for the IAAF World Youth Championships, is concerned that the advertising and promotional activities in Beijing are too low key.

“I myself visited Beijing for the ‘One Year to Go’ promotional ceremony in August 2014 and I was in Beijing again in March and again in April 2015 to support the promotional effort,” said President Diack. “On both occasions, I reiterated the need to invest properly in the promotional efforts to secure what had been promised to us by the Chinese authorities for this event – 100% capacity for the evening sessions and 30% for morning sessions,” said President Diack. “But at the moment, we see that some evening sessions are still around 50% of capacity, so we need to work very hard in the remaining weeks. We have no time to lose now.”

Lamine Diack, IAAF President, credit IAAF

“Together with my IAAF Council colleagues, I supported Beijing’s bid for the 2015 World Championships because I believed that the event would not only be an extraordinary competition and would strengthen the image of our sport worldwide, but because I felt that it would allow China to unleash the huge potential of athletics in China. I call on all our partners in China to support us to achieve these goals.”

RECORD PARTICIPATION EXPECTED AT IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015

Preliminary entries of 2567 athletes (1423 men and 1144 women) have been received from 203 IAAF member federations for the 15th edition of the championships, which will be held between 22-30 August.

Even taking into account the usual reduction in numbers between preliminary entries and final participants, the IAAF is optimistic that Beijing’s Birds Nest Stadium will witness the biggest ever gathering of athletes for the sport’s premier event on its calendar.

Natasha HASTINGS 400m – (USA)
photo credit: Elisabeth-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12224997@N03/9240124051/in/photolist-f5LaiW-f5vDiB-f5w2AZ-f5vMw8-f5w3XD-f5LdD3-f5vEdg-f5KV1u-f5LeEQ-cbpA1Q-cbpzHb

The record for participation at a previous World Championships is 1895 athletes, achieved at the 2009 edition in Berlin, while the 2013 edition in Moscow saw a record 203 member federations compete.

There were 1335 athletes from 153 member federations at the first World Championships in 1983, which demonstrates how the sport has progressed at the highest level in the past 30 years.

IAAF