Tokyo has been selected as the host city for the World Athletics Championships in 2025.
Japan’s capital held a delayed Olympics last year behind closed doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was rubber-stamped at the council’s meeting in Eugene ahead of the start of the 18th edition of the World Championships on Friday, with Tokyo holding off competition from Nairobi, Silesia and Singapore.
World Athletics president Lord Coe said: “Within an extremely strong field of candidates to host the World Athletics Championships 2025, Tokyo offered a compelling bid.
“I hope this will be a shining light for Japan as they celebrate 100 years of the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) in 2025, by bringing world-class athletics back to the people in Tokyo.”
Budapest will host the 2023 World Championships, with this year’s event having been pushed back 12 months to accommodate the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Coe concedes some visa cases won’t be resolved for Eugene
Meanwhile, Coe has conceded not all outstanding visa cases will be resolved ahead of this year’s World Championships.
Almost 400 athletes and officials have suffered visa issues to enter the United States before the Championships start in Eugene on Friday.
Ferdinand Omanyala, who has run the third fastest 100m time in the world this year, only had his travel visa approved on Wednesday.
The Kenya sprinter won the African 100m title last month and is due to run in the heats on Friday. He is expected to arrive in Eugene just three hours before his race.
Lord Coe said: “We will work right up to the last minute but will we be able to resolve all those issues in time for the start of competition? No, we won’t be.
“The one thing which is clear to me as we battle to do as much as we possibly can is it is complicated. In relative percentage terms it’s a small number but it’s of no comfort if you are in that category.
“Of course there are lessons to be learnt but the key learning is this is a very complicated landscape. There isn’t one thing which you can look at and say it’s the dominant problem.”
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Oregon22 and World Athletics have dealt with 374 cases with 255 resolved and 20 refused.
In some cases athletes have had delays in getting interviews or applications have either been late or suffered with incorrect information.
“The Oregon 22 organising committee and World Athletics are working closely with the USOPC to follow up on visa applications, the majority of which have been successfully resolved,” said a World Athletics statement.
“We continue to follow up with those outstanding visa issues. International travel in general has become more challenging due to the pandemic and we are extremely grateful for the help and experience of the USOPC in helping to resolve issues that have come up in the last few weeks.”
Credit: Sky Sports
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