Sprint Together for Tomorrow

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Sports

Hangzhou Asian Games

Wed, December 6, 2023 | 16:00

Sprint Together for Tomorrow

Posted : 2011-07-07 17:04

Updated : 2011-07-07 17:04

By Yoon Chul

Four years after being named the host for the 2011 IAAF World Championships and with 50 days left, Daegu is ready for the world’s best athletes.

The world championships, one of the biggest sporting events along with the Summer Olympics and World Cup, will take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4.

Under the slogan “Sprint Together for Tomorrow,” the organizing committee has been stepping up efforts to provide an environment where the athletes can set new records.

The committee decided to change the running track from a polyurethane surface to an upgraded Mondo one.

Most of today’s top achievements are being set on Mondo tracks, and the athletes participating in Daegu can look forward to a setting aimed at new world records.

The committee has stepped up efforts to make life convenient for the athletes and others involved in the event. The warm-up facilities are close by the main stadium and the athlete’s village and media village are only about seven minutes away.

The committee has also prepared for the best conditions in lighting and sound. The IAAF, the world governing body of track and field, gave the highest grade Class-1 on April 23 for the venue’s sound system, lighting facilities, electronic display and track.

The electronic display is 24.24 meters wide and 9.6-meters tall and can show six different views simultaneously, which allows spectators to see various events at once.

The marathon course will start from Kukchaebosang NationalPark. The committee plans to hold a festival with sites along the route for the spectators’ enjoyment.

Near the main stadium will be an interactive athletics experience, where visitors can take part in computerized track and field events, with their efforts shown on a screen in 3D.

.During the games, there will be 6,700 trained volunteers on hand to help the participants and visitors.

The athletes’ registration will take place on Aug. 15.

While the fastest human, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, is expected to run in the men’s 100- and 200-meters, Tyson Gay of the United States, a strong contender, will not race due to a hip injury.

However, Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell promises to offer tough competition for the top podium position.

Justin Gatlin, an American sprinter who has returned from a four-year ban after failing a drug test, could also challenge Bolt. Gatlin won the 100 meters in the 2004 Athens Summer Games and IAAF World Championships in Helsinki in 2005.

Marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, the current world record holder with a time of two hours three minutes 59 seconds, hasn’t confirmed whether he will be in Daegu, as he will be run the Berlin marathon on Sept. 25. Gebrselassie didn’t run in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, complaining of air pollution and he has been known to shy away from competitions that are scheduled too close together. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya, who set an unofficial world record in the 2011 Boston Marathon, clocking in at 2:03.02 minutes, said he would not run in Daegu.

yc@koreatimes.co.kr