Portland & Birmingham to Host 2016 & 2018 World Indoor Championships

Portland, clinic Oregon, unhealthy has been annaounced as the host for the 2016 World Indoor Track & Field Championships after the IAAF Council on Friday voted to bring the meet back to the U.S. for the first time since 1987.

USATF President Stephanie Hightower, USATF CEO Max Siegel, and TrackTown USA President Vin Lananna presented the joint Portland bid to the IAAF Council on Friday morning in Monaco. Birmingham, England, also bid for the event and will host the 2018 event.

The 2016 World Indoor Championships will mark the first time a World Athletics Series (WAS) event has been held in the United States since the World Cross Country Championships in 1992.

“We thank the IAAF Council and President Diack for entrusting us with the 2016 World Indoor Championships,” Siegel said. “We are honored and proud to be given the opportunity to again host the world’s national track & field teams on U.S. soil. USATF and TrackTown have the vision and execution that will make the meet a truly world-class experience.”

“We plan to leave a lasting legacy of new facilities, a renewed passion, and a new model to present indoor track and field,” Lananna said. “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.”

The three-day meet will be held in March, 2016, at Portland’s Oregon Convention Center (OCC). As configured for World Indoors, the facility will easily accommodate more than 8,000 spectators. A new 200-meter IAAF-certified track will be built and then repurposed as a legacy of the event.

Birmingham Win Adds to UK Events

Birmingham will look forward to welcoming the World Indoors back to the National Indoor Arena in 2018 following a £26 million refurbishment, having staged a successful event in 2003, and also playing host to its European equivalent in 2007. 

UK Athletics CEO Niels de Vos said: “This is a fantastic day for British Athletics and represents the best possible outcome. 

“To have secured world championships in 2015, 16, 17 and 18 represents a golden four year period for athletics. 

“We are all very proud of what ourselves and the cities of Cardiff and Birmingham have achieved today – it is unprecedented and is fabulously exciting.” 

IAAF vice president Lord Sebastian Coe said: “The IAAF recognised that the Birmingham bid was a winner and the Council were delighted that the city was happy to be awarded the World Champs in 2018. 

“For athletics in the UK it makes great strategic sense, giving us an amazing opportunity to maintain the incredible momentum athletics has built up in the UK.”