IAAF
President's Speech - 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics
IAAF
19 September 2002 - Official IAAF / LOC Press Conference held at the Hotel Melia
Castilla.
Thank you for the
introduction, It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you in the great
city of Madrid in such distinguished company.
I think it is remarkable to
note that this event is the 10th IAAF World Athletic Series event to take place
on Spanish soil since 1989, the year that a memorable edition of the World Cup
took place in the Montjuic Stadium in Barcelona, three years before a
magnificent Olympic Games. It is also significant that all of our sport’s
specialities - from Race Walking, Cross Country and Road Running to Indoor
Athletics have been catered for as well. Indeed, out of the current IAAF WAS
programme – only the World Youth and World Junior Championships HAVE NOT been
organised in Spain. Gentlemen – I have given you your next challenge!
But seriously, this level of
activity is testimony to the energy and commitment of the Royal Spanish
Athletics Federation. And I am not just referring to organisational skill, such
as most recently witnessed in Seville in 1999 for the World Championships, but
also to Spain’s efforts to develop and promote the sport amongst young athletes.
I should also say that
before the recent European Championships, the RFEA Predicted that they would win
18 Medals and, in the end, they won exactly 18! This shows the level of
expertise and athletics culture inside the Federation and also shows that while
Spain continues to be strong in middle and long distance running, it is also
improving standards in many other disciplines as well.
So what is the World Cup?
Quite simply, it is the only
IAAF competition which is exclusively for teams and offers the athlete, and the
spectator, the chance to see gifted solo players – working hard for their own
orchestras – battling for points on behalf of their colleagues. The points range
from 9 for first place down to 1.
You will see the
representatives of Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania, up against single
nation teams from USA, Germany, Great Britain (men), Russia (women) and the host
nation of Spain in 39 different events.
In 1977, when the first
edition of the World Cup took place in Dusseldorf, it was the only IAAF track
competition outside of the Olympic Games, which, until 1983, was still being
considered as the official IAAF World Championships. Since then, even though the
IAAF has greatly developed its programme, the World Cup has held its unique
appeal. There is nothing quite like following a team – as soccer fans amongst us
will know – but the individual results achieved can also be outstanding. There
have been three world records set at the World Cup – Men’s 4x100m relay by the
USA in 1977, and two others, the women’s 4x100 mark set by the GDR in 1985
(41.37) and the woman’s 400m mark of 47.60 set by Marita Koch in the same
Canberra competition, which are still valid today.
The reigning team champion
in the Men’s Competition is Africa, while the US Women will be aiming to defend
the title they won in Johannesburg 4 years ago. In Madrid, the timetable has
been fixed into two sessions on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Although it is a Team
Competition, there is also more than US $3 Million of Prize Money based on
place.
This ranges from $30,000 for
first place to $1,000 for 9th (and $2,000 in the case of the relays)
All details about prize
money can be found in the print out which you can pick up as you leave:
Individual events
$30,000
$18,000
$8,000
$7,000
$5,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,500
$1,000
Relays
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
The teams from Africa, Asia
and Europe were all selected during the recent Area Championships – which for
the first time ever this year took place during the same time period. I know
from my own experiences that the African and European Championships went
extremely well, but our IAAF contacts also reported packed stadiums in Sri Lanka
for the Asian Championships, which proves that these events have great potential
as showcases for athletics. The IAAF’s aim is to strengthen Area competitions,
and make them not only attractive to up-and-coming athletes but also important
to the stars as well, because by competing “at home” they are really putting
something back into the sport.
Lamine Diack
