8 April 2002As a prelude
to the vote to select the Host City for the 10th IAAF World Championships in
Athletics 2005, the Candidates were all asked a number of questions concerning their bids
to stage the Championships, widely recognized as the third biggest sporting event in the
world after the Olympics and the football World Cup. These interviews were published in
the latest edition of the IAAF Magazine.
Since these interviews were conducted, the cities have all had time to prepare and improve their bids and have been visited by the Evaluation Commission appointed by the IAAF Council. The final presentations will be made in Nairobi, where the IAAF Council will select the winning city on 14 April 2002.
BERLIN
To reopen the
Olympic Stadium with the world championships in athletics
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
Our main feature is of course the Olympic Stadium, which will be rebuilt by the end of 2004. This is being done with the demands of a world championships in mind as well as respect for history. The arena will offer 76,065 fully covered seats. We will, of course, have a new track. The surroundings of the Olympic Stadium, are spacious enough to include all the warm-up facilities. The Olympic Stadium is perfectly connected to public transport. Underground, local rail service and bus services are all just a couple of minutes walk away from the stadium. We can also offer enough hotels of the requested standard. Athletes will stay in up to three hotels which will be in the same area of Berlin. Two hotels opposite each other will be reserved for the officials of the IAAF. As for the IAAF Congress, we can offer the International Congress Centre, the biggest in Europe. We will also offer various cultural programmes at the Waldbühne, an open air arena behind the Olympic Stadium that has 20,000 seats.
What are your weakest points? And how are you going to turn them into advantages?
We cannot see any weak points. The infrastructure in Berlin is constantly being improved. For example, by 2005, Berlin’s express motorway will be extended, so that there will be a very good connection between the athletes’ hotels and the stadium.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
Again, I can stress that everything will be perfect by 2005. The stadium will be ready and tested.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
I cannot yet make any comments on that as we are just starting to work on that aspect of the bid.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
This would be a great image booster for Berlin. We could show the world that Berlin is an exciting, lively city and a cultural centre. Berlin is a showcase for the new united Germany. And the World Championships would boost sport in Berlin and in Germany in general, especially athletics. It would act as a great motivation for young athletes and children. And we would find a way to include schools and clubs in the event.
16 years after the fall of the Wall, Berlin is a metropolis in the heart of Europe. We are also a city with a great athletics tradition and enthusiasm, and host two of the world’s top athletics events: the ISTAF (Golden League meeting) and the Marathon. We want to reopen the Olympic Stadium, where the Olympics took place in 1936, with the World Championships in athletics.
As has been the case with many other international championships and events, Germany will guarantee an accurate and reliable organisation. We will absorb all costs. Integrated into an attractive multicultural metropolis, the championships will be fully supported by representatives of sports, culture, economy, media and politics in Berlin.
BRUSSELS
Supporting athletes and athletics today and tomorrow
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
Brussels’ application to stage the World Championships in 2005 is supported by all levels of the Belgian government: federal, regional, the three linguistic communities, plus the City of Brussels and the various communities and suburbs of the Belgian capital.
Athletics in Belgium also benefits from a long-term relationship between the COIB and the LRBA for the preparation of today’s elite and upcoming athletes until the World Championships of 2005. We have a professional structure inside the “House of Athletics” bringing together 25 staff members, as well as the Memorial Van Damme organisation team.
Belgium regularly hosts major athletics events: the European Indoor Championship 2000 in Ghent, the Night of the Athletics at Zolder, the World Cross-country Championships 2001 in Ostend, and the annual Memorial Van Damme Grand Prix meeting in Brussels, which was staged for the 25th time in 2001.
In its will to organise the World Championships, the Brussels region requested Deloitte & Touche, as an independent third-party, to model and estimate the macro-economic benefits and fall-out of such an event.
Belgium is renowned for hosting major cultural events in a multi-lingual environment and Brussels has been consistently chosen as headquarters by international organisations (including the European Union, Nato, FISU, the international student sports federation) because of its central geographical location and its well-developed transport network.
What are your weakest points? And how are you going to turn them into advantages?
Today the Stadium Roi Baudouin does not have a nearby warm-up track, in line with international standards for international championships. Holding the World Championships will provide the opportunity to transform the Heysel facilities into a full quality athletics complex. This will ensure a growing development of athletics in Europe’s capital. This investment represents the essence of the IAAF’s will to promote the No.1 Olympic sport through its World Championships.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
The Roi Baudouin Stadium is fully compliant with international athletics standards and consequently includes a nine-lane track. Each year, it stages one of the major events of the calendar, the Memorial Van Damme. The 50,000 spectators who attend this series of world-class competitions, and the world and European records achieved at the meeting are tribute to the stadium’s quality.
Only slight improvements to the facilities are considered necessary, such as the doubling of jumping and throwing areas as well as the usual alterations to accommodate the media and VIPs. A new warm-up track represents the major investment for these championships. With a new 400m track, new contest areas and separate long throws areas, this arena will be linked to the main stadium through a tunnel.
The Heysel area will become the championships’ nerve centre, alongside one of the largest cinema complexes in Europe, the Bruparck and Mini-Europe game parks, the exhibition centres, the Atomium and the Osseghem Park.
The Heysel area also includes the headquarters of the Belgian Olympic Committee and of the sports federation for handicapped people, which will contribute to the championships with peripheral activities, all dedicated to the integration between the various sporting, local, cultural and traditional communities, and the IAAF world.
Six tracks are located within a 5km radius of Roi Baudouin Stadium and the hotels where the different teams will be staying. The necessary improvements, not only from a sporting point of view but also from a security point of view, will be undertaken.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
The event’s promotion will be carried out at all levels and implicate all the country’s economic players in regards to their respective communications means, particularly the campaigns around the country, regions and communities’ image abroad. This promotion will use all media available, from the more traditional ones (press releases and press conferences) to more advanced ones (creation of a very interactive website in April 2002 with several features such as chats, historical corner, pictures gallery).
The allocated budget represents €6-8 million or 15 per cent of the total budget.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
The IAAF World Championships in Athletics will bring to Brussels and Belgium the image of a hospitable country, with a multi-lingual people who are enthusiastic about sport, proud to present its regional specialities, and encouraging its nationals from all cultural origins to participate.
Thanks to the event, a programme for the revitalisation of the No.1 Olympic sport will be deployed in collaboration with schools (with which a four-year agreement has already been signed), clubs and the jogging world (particularly dynamic in Belgium). Finally, the enhancements to the Roi Baudouin and training stadiums as well as the construction of the warm-up stadium will constitute an enormous material heritage.
BUDAPEST
Because it is
important to the development of athletics and important to our country
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
First, Hungary has a long tradition of sports both in terms of competing and also organising world-class events. The IAAF has come to Hungary three times before to organise the World Championships.
The first time was in 1989 when Budapest was host to the World Indoor Championships. Five years later the World Cross-country Championships came to Budapest, and only last summer the World Youth Championships took place in Debrecen. In addition, Budapest organised the successful European Championships in 1998.
So we have taken our turn by hosting a range of Championships. In this we have gained the necessary experience and expertise for Hungary to organise the biggest athletics event of them all – the IAAF World Championships.
What are your weakest points? And how are you going to turn them into advantages?
The fact is that five other candidates are in the race, any of which could be great organisers. It could be considered a weak point that Budapest is also a host for the 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships. However, we regard this as a major step forward in that this is what our country has been preparing for, during the past few years.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
The Nepstadion underwent large renovations four years ago prior to the European Championships. A spectacular VIP Hospitality Area was built in addition to new changing rooms and high-class catering facilities. Over the next three years, when the development programme of the stadium is complete, there will be more than 50,000 seats undercover.
The training venue (100m from the stadium) was also renovated for the European Championships in 1998, and so meets all of the modern requirements for staging a major event, and this will also go through some further improvements before the World Championships take place.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
Should Hungary host the World Championships in 2005, the event will play the same role in the promotion of the country and its tourism, as the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix, which takes place every August. This means that the promotion of the competition will not only be a part of the budget of the event but of a national promotional programme as well.
The main objective of our promotion strategy will be to have a sell-out of every single session during the Championships. Because the Championships will be the biggest event in our country for the coming 10 years, we will invest whatever is necessary in the promotional campaign.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
Hungary was one of the founding countries of the IAAF. We have had nine Olympic champions, making athletics one of the most prestigious sports in our country. The political changes in 1990 meant a temporary setback in the sporting life of the whole region. However, over the past few years, many new Sports Development Programmes have been launched in Hungary.
The programme for athletics has been the most outstanding among them. It involves 600 schools and 35,000 children, with a special programme for young athletes up to the age of 19, which started last year.
Hungary is regarding the organisation of a World Championships a part of this development programme. The importance of such an event for these youngsters would be of the highest value.
Hosting the World Championships would mean so much to the Hungarian people and to the fast developing central and eastern Europe, bringing back the legacy of the sport to a much stronger level than the country has ever seen before.
Finally, the World Athletics Family would largely benefit from the World Championships being hosted in Hungary - surprise details to be announced later!
This is a bid from Hungary, not only Budapest. The entire nation, represented by our President and Government is behind this bid – because it is important!
HELSINKI
The
safe and audience-friendly choice to build the future of athletics
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
Finland will do its best for the 2005 IAAF World Championships to promote the sport worldwide. We have a great experience and fantastic opportunities provided by the new digital TV, mobile and information technology.
The whole nation stands in Finland as united and very enthusiastic behind the bid. The state of Finland, City of Helsinki, Finnish Athletics and the whole people of Finland are involved in the application. We are very pleased that Finland appointed one of the best forces available as President of the bidding committee: Mr Harri Holkeri, who has been a Prime Minister of Finland for many years and the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Finland is an experienced organiser of championships and there is no doubt that no seat will be vacant if the World Championships are organised in Finland. And this will be crucial. The championships would be the event of the century. We believe that in addition to the audience and the IAAF family, also the media will catch the championships feeling and produce positive reports about the championships that will play an extremely important role for the future of the athletics.
We also have the world’s best athletes’ village in Finland. All the teams can be accommodated in the same athletes’ village where they will have access to a sports field and an indoor track, meaning they will not have to travel away from the athletes’ village to train. The village is situated in one of the most valuable seaside areas of the city, not far from the international headquarters of Nokia. It will be equipped with the most up-to-date information technology available.
Helsinki is a compact size metropolis. The IAAF Family, Guests and Sponsors can be accommodated in the best hotels in Helsinki, situated less than 1km from the stadium.
It is a proven fact that the climate in Finland is excellent with regard to good sports results. A total of 80 outdoor world records in athletics have been achieved in Finland, and 50 of them in Helsinki.
What are the weakest points? How are you going to turn them into advantages?
Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium has been improved over several decades, and it will need certain basic improvements also for the championships to be held in 2005. There will be more seats in the stands, and all the stands will be covered. The track will be equipped with a new surface and we will provide the audience with the biggest and the best videoscreen in the history of the Championships.
Even though a completely new stadium will not be built, the current stadium has a central location in the heart of the city of Helsinki. Furthermore, there is a lot of space around the stadium, parks and other facilities that may be used to satisfy the space requirements of the World Championships.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
Finland could organise the championships as early as 2003. Nevertheless, in order to have all the seats in the stadium covered and the newest apartments in the athletes’ village finished, the championships of the year 2005 will come at an optimal time.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
As soon as the World Championships are granted to Finland, the media in Finland will continuously follow the championships and their preparations and keep them exposed. Furthermore, the business community in Finland as well as several other interest groups will guarantee the visibility of the championships in Finland. As it was said earlier, it won’t be difficult to fill the stadium and to achieve splendid World Championships feeling in Finland.
Nevertheless, we will advertise in various media, also internationally. We will spend millions of dollars of the championship organisation’s and the co-operation partners’ money to promote the championships.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
The World Championships would be the event of the century in Helsinki and in Finland. Being the host of the World Championships is an extremely motivating and challenging way to influence the development of both the national and international athletics, and at the same time an excellent opportunity to promote the image of Helsinki, that of Finland and the aspirations of the business community.
We believe that the World Championships for their part would promote Finland’s reputation as a responsible and competent organiser of major events. The cash flow to be obtained through the event should not be left out of consideration either.
MOSCOW
Come to Russia to see the best of track and field
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
Moscow already has a very rich experience of staging of major sports events, particularly athletics. The city of Moscow has staged the Olympic Games in 1980, the European Cup final in 1985, the 1986 Goodwill Games, and the IAAF Grand Prix Final in 1998.
Russia is a country of rich cultural and historic traditions, and we have a particularly strong tradition in athletics, which means that the 2005 IAAF World Championships would have the benefit of many highly qualified and experienced judges.
Moscow offers easy access, with flights arriving in the city from almost every country on earth. Moscow has many large capacity hotels, which offer the opportunity for the whole athletics family to stay in one place during the course of the championships, and provides excellent accommodation for the IAAF Congress and Council meetings.
Of course, most importantly, Moscow offers excellent established athletics facilities at the totally renovated Olympic Stadium.
Moscow’s bid to stage the 2005 IAAF World Championships has the full support of the city administration.
What are your weakest points? And how are you going to turn them into advantages?
There are no weak points, except for the short notice between now and 2005, and the slow co-ordination between different structures involved in the organisation. However, this can be overcome quite easily through a number of key meetings with all concerned parties at an early stage of preparation.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
Facilities are excellent, state-of-the-art, totally renovated. Training stadiums would be fully renovated, which can be done easily in time for 2005.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
We plan to have a city recognition programme to promote awareness of the 2005 World Championships, using television and radio advertisements, posters, banners, backdrops, plus information in newspapers and magazines.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
It would be a great honour and privilege for Moscow and Russia to stage the world’s premier athletics event. It would provide an opportunity for the Moscow sports officials to play hosts for representatives of 210 countries of the world. It would give a stimulus to complete the renovation of the athletics venues around the city, which would serve as training facilities during the championships. The Moscow authorities wish to bid to stage the Olympic Games in 2012, and the 2005 IAAF World Championships offer an opportunity to have a rehearsal of a major international sports competition. Above all, the World Championships would allow us to show off to the world the wonders of modern Moscow and Russia.
ROME
The ideal venue to emphasise values of peace, solidarity and friendship
What are the strongest aspects of your candidature?
Rome, centre of the world civilisation, attracts millions of tourists from all the continents.
Its spiritual appeal, the charm of its archaeological finds, of its architectural, historic and artistic treasures, together with Italy’s temperate climate, all guarantee a constant flow of visitors in every season of the year.
Rome has hosted major sportive events. The Olympic Stadium, venue of the 1960 Olympic Games and recently renewed, has successfully hosted the second edition of the IAAF World Championships, as well as the European Championships and European Cup, in addition to the Golden Gala, the traditional rendezvous of the IAAF Golden League circuit. The meeting has reached a high level of technical, spectacular and organisational aspects.
The Italian athletics movement, our Olympic Committee, the Municipality of Rome, the Province and the Lazio Region fully support this candidature.
What are the weakest points? And how are you going to turn them into advantages?
The main problem is the limited time that we have to guarantee the financial, structural, organisational and operational projects of our candidature (a problem which concerns all the candidates), and the necessity to upgrade for this event all facilities and services.
Nevertheless, the Italian Olympic Committee together with the Municipality of Rome, within their fields of competence, have already started the renovations of the facilities for athletics.
Should the 2005 IAAF World Championships be awarded to Rome, this would represent a strong motivation to accelerate these renovations and to strengthen the related projects in favour of athletics and of its spread in the capital and all over the nation.
The possibility to host this event has already seen the formation of a working group whose main task is to analyse all financial, organisational and logistic aspects and to carry out all the necessary projects to support this candidature.
What is the state of the facilities you can offer now? And how are they going to be improved if necessary?
Renovations of the existing facilities have already started. Additionally, a reconstruction and an improvement of specific areas (runways, tracks, services) and other facilities for athletics are foreseen.
Can you roughly describe what your promotion strategy will be like? What proportion of your overall budget will be dedicated to promotions?
The City of Rome is equipped to face with efficiency the high number of tourists expected for special events (as in the Jubilee year). Thus, we can count on professionalism, on the provision of accommodation, and know that facilities and services will be up to the task. We can handle maximum participation for the 2005 World Championships.
With the involvement of the local institutions, we intend to promote the event in the Lazio region, in its provinces and in all the districts of Rome in order to ensure a strong number of spectators at the stadium. We will also provide, through special projects, an involvement of all the members of the Italian athletic family, offering them special opportunities to attend the event. Furthermore, we are planning to allocate 8.5 per cent of the overall budget to promotions. Nevertheless, this does not reflect the total of the funding of the promotional projects, as a direct commitment of the local authorities is also expected.
What would the World Championships bring to your city? Your country?
The World Championships will represent a strong incentive to upgrade all the sporting facilities and to make Rome become the Capital of Athletics, as wished jointly by us and by the local administrators.
The World Championships will also contribute to bring the Italian media and spectators' attention to athletics, its promotion and development. Nowadays, the focus is more on football, while the big impact of the organisation of the championships will draw all emphasis on our sport.
The Championships will also have an impact on the education and development of Italy’s young athletes. Combined projects with the Rome school system will enhance the practice and attendance at our sport of the younger generations.
We believe that Rome has all the characteristics to exploit the sporting, spectacular and competitive aspects of this event. Rome is the centre of the world -- spirituality, historically and culturally.
