Doha event to be brought forward by four weeks to avoid city’s planned infrastructure improvements
The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships are to be brought forward by four weeks to October 22-31 in the hope of avoiding infrastructure improvements planned in and around the host city of Doha, Qatar.
The event, to be held at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, had originally been due to take place from November 19-28.
“To avoid any inconvenience and disruption these works may cause para-athletes attending the biggest international para-athletics event ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, IPC Athletics agreed with the Organising Committee to bring the event forward,” read a statement from the International Paralympic Committee, the global governing body of the Paralympic movement.
Despite the change in dates, the 10-day event – which is expected to attract 1300 athletes from 90 countries – will still be held at the 15,000 capacity Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Home to the Qatar Sports Club, the stadium also annually hosts the first IAAF Diamond League meet of the year, which in 2014 will be held on May 9. Adjacent to the stadium there is also an eight lane Mondo warm-up track. The Al Saad Club and Al-Arabi Club will also be used as training venues for teams.
The last edition of the event was held in Lyon, France, while in 2012 it was confirmed that the 2017 World Championships had been awarded to London, with plans to stage the event at the Olympic Stadium one month before the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the same venue. As a result, London will become the first city to host the two Championships side-by-side.
