London and Doha, the capital of Qatar, will go head to head for the right to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships after Barcelona withdrew from the race.

Barcelona was nominated as Spain’s candidate less than two weeks ago.

“There are only two candidates, London and Doha,” confirmed IAAF president Lamine Diack ahead of the final evening at the 2012 championships in Daegu.

The host city will be announced in Monaco on 11 November.

The decision of Barcelona, which hosted the 1992 Olympics, to withdraw is a boost for London’s chances, as it will mean the European vote should not be split.

READ MORE http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/14779746.stm

by KenThis news is old, but the shock is still fresh: Pierre Quinon of France, the 1984 Olympic pole vault champion, committed suicide in mid-August. It’s especially a surprise to me, since I heard Pierre speak at the Sacramento worlds General Assembly only a month earlier. He was 49 and hinted he might want to make a comeback at 2015 Lyon worlds, where he’d be jumping in his hometown. Wikipedia reported: “Quinon committed suicide on August 17, 2011, by jumping out of a window in the Mediterranean city of Hyères. He was 49 and had been suffering from depression. He had been running a rotisserie business from a truck prior to his death.” What a tragedy for sport and potentially masters track. Read more http://masterstrack.com/2011/09/19939/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=olympic-champ-pierre-quinon-a-suicide-promoted-2015-lyon-worlds

DAEGU — Korea’s first ever World Championships in Athletics, which concluded on Sunday after nine days of competition, will provide a “bright future” for Korean athletics, according to athletics legend Sergey Bubka.

In his pole vaulting career, Bubka won six Worlds titles, set 35 world records, and also won gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. The Ukranian’s world record 6.14 meter leap in Italy in 1994 has yet to be approached, let alone beaten.

Speaking with The Korea Herald at the Daegu Stadium on Friday, the former pole vault champion hailed the Daegu World Championships as a “great success.”

“I believe this championships has been very successful, and it will give good development, good promotion of athletics,” Bubka said

Read more http://www.koreaherald.com/sports/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110904000229