"I like Cali is thinking about a bid for the seniors championship" Jon Ridgeon

The  World Athletics u20 Championships Cali 2022 ended and the records, the experiences, the stories, a fantastic scenario and a geography favorable for the sport, were the factors that came up the most at the press conference  that took place before the last day of competitions.

The press conference was attended by athletes Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) and Valentina Barrios (Colombia), in addition to the president of the local organizing committee, Ramiro Varela and the CEO of World Athletics, Jon Ridgeon, who began the conference with a short summary of what  was the championship: "Cali once again emerged as a cradle of champions, as in 2015 when we saw local and world stars make their marks for the first time. Today, it has again been the cradle of a great group of emerging stars. I believe that excellence in the sport can start here in Cali." He also emphasized the large number of young journalists who took part in the media development plan: "The media development program with these 43 journalists was a success and we want to do the same with young coaches. We hope that in the future this will be a reality in every championship".

Jon Ridgeon mentioned the attendance figures during the championship where close to 10,000 people visited the Pascual on each day of competition, but what was really important was to observe the presence of children and pre-university youth: "It is a great opportunity to generate a sports legacy in schools and universities". He pointed out.

Ramiro Varela, president of the LOC, gave his appreciation of the championship, emphasizing the facilities and infrastructure of the venue: "A very fast track with good facilities generates good sports results like the ones we have just seen". He also assured to be very motivated to initiate the pertinent procedures and studies to make Cali the sports venue for the 2029 World Senior Championships.

In response to these statements, WA's CEO expressed his support for a possible candidacy: "I will confirm by saying that from WA we would fully support Cali. The volunteers and organization has been very good. It has an excellent stadium and a very fast track that facilitates good performances. I like that Colombia can have the ambition to achieve a championship for the seniors and this year went very well so it can lead them to organize it without any problem. We would love to receive a proposal from Cali for the future. As for the process, we will be launching it at the end of this year to define the venues for 2027 and 2029. There is not much time to lose so they should hurry."

Finally, Ridgeon referred to sports performance with a telling phrase: "The impressions have been incredibly positive. If I were an older athlete it would scare me to see these younger kids so talented. The youngsters who competed in Cali may be the future world champions in 2023."

Communications Local Organizing Committee of the U20 World Athletics Championships Cali 2022