Local school children have the opportunity to attend the Birmingham event for free next March

Organisers of the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 have marked the 100 days to go milestone by announcing that 100 free tickets will be available for school children to attend the event next March.

The school children, who will be from either primary or secondary schools in Birmingham, will attend the morning session of the Championships on Friday March 2 and this session includes three events from the women’s pentathlon plus three events from the men’s heptathlon. It also features the first round of the men’s and women’s 400m and the first round of the women’s 60m which, at the last IAAF World Championships in Portland, featured Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson, world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and Britain’s European indoor champion Asha Philip.

"This event will see more than 500 of the world’s best athletes from around 150 different countries coming to Arena Birmingham to compete and, as with all major sports events that we bring to the city, we are keen to use them as an opportunity to inspire young people who live in Birmingham," said Cllr Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, who is also chair of the executive steering group for the Championships.

"I know the school children who receive these free tickets will have a fantastic time at the Championships and I hope it is an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives."

The IAAF World Indoor Championships is being jointly organised by Birmingham City Council and British Athletics, whose chief executive Niels de Vos said: "We are delighted to be able to provide tickets to school children from the local area to attend the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

"The World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 demonstrated the huge appetite for school children to have an opportunity to attend world class-sport this summer and it is great to know this is to continue at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018."

The free tickets for schools will be allocated based on a prize draw so any Birmingham school wishing to be considered should send an email with their contact details to [email protected] by the end of November. The winning schools will be selected at random, with each receiving 20 free tickets.

Tickets for the Thursday evening and Friday morning sessions are currently on sale and tickets for adults start at just £20 for both of these sessions. Due to high demand, tickets for the other four sessions of this four day event are not currently available.

To find out more about the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018, which will be staged from March 1 to 4 at Arena Birmingham, visit www.wicbirmingham2018.com