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The IAAF World Indoor Tour, which was inaugurated this year, will expand with the inclusion of two further meetings by 2018.
The inaugural season of the IAAF World Indoor Tour was composed of four well-established IAAF Indoor Permit meetings.
The tour ran from 6 to 20 February and opened in Karlsruhe, Germany, crossed over the Atlantic to Boston, USA, before returning back to Europe for meetings in Stockholm, Sweden, and Glasgow, Great Britain.
At the IAAF Council meeting earlier this month, the new regulations for the IAAF World Indoor Tour were approved and can be downloaded here.
It was also decided to include the meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, in the 2017 calendar.
The tour will then expand further to six meetings in 2018 with the addition of a non-European meeting.
The IAAF World Indoor Tour, which is based upon a points and prize money system, has given the international indoor season a formal unified structure.
The individual overall winner of each event receives US$20,000 in prize money and a ‘wild card’ entry to the IAAF World Indoor Championships.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe commented: “The introduction of the IAAF World Indoor Tour is an important addition to the promotion of athletics. The winter track season now has a structure which cements the best invitational indoor track meets together and links them directly to the IAAF World Indoor Championships. It’s a model which is easily understandable for athletes, media and fans alike.
“Indoor athletics was an important part of my running career. My first international title in 1977 and my last world record in 1983 were set indoors.
“Indoor athletics is close-up sport. Spectators are separated by no more than a few feet from the competing athletes. This is why the IAAF World Indoor Tour is important as it helps to promote what is a unique sporting experience.”
Dusseldorf meeting director Marc Osenberg commented: “We are excited to be joining the IAAF World Indoor Tour. As a relatively young meeting, we are especially keen to be a member of this new global athletics brand. Together with the other meeting organisers, we will work together to promote the attraction of indoor athletics. As public recognition of the IAAF World Indoor Tour grows, the individual meetings and indoor athletics as a whole will all be winners.”
IAAF
