Portland to host 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships
MONTE CARLO, Monaco – Track and field’s international governing body (IAAF) has awarded Portland, Ore., the 2016 World Indoor Championships.
The Oregon Convention Center will host the three-day meet, scheduled in March, 2016. Organizers will build a 200-meter IAAF-certified track and repurpose it after the event.
“We plan to leave a lasting legacy of new facilities, a renewed passion, and a new model to present indoor track and field,” TrackTown USA President Vin Lananna. “We will work tirelessly to create the most awe-inspiring event ever held in the U.S. for the athletes, fans, officials, media, partners and the entire IAAF family. We want to demonstrate our commitment with action.”
USA Track and Field President Stephanie Hightower said “it allows us to showcase the sport in the states.”
Lananna, Hightower and USATF CEO Max Siegel presented Portland’s bid to the IAAF Council in Monaco.
The United States last hosted a senior track and field world championship in 1987, when Indianapolis staged the indoor event.
TrackTown USA has hosted the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, and will put on the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships as well as the 2016 Olympic Trials.
The IAAF also announced Friday it awarded the 2018 world indoors to Birmingham, England. The city previously hosted the world indoors in 2003.
The next world indoors will be held in March in Sopot, Poland.
Source: The Associated Press
