IAAF Summary of Council Meeting Decisions

IAAF Council agreed that both Olympic Shot Put events will take place in Olympia, either on 18 or 19 August 2004, with both medal ceremonies taking place on 20 August in the Athens Olympic Stadium.

Following the further testing of 402 samples from the IAAF World Championships in Paris, a total of 2 ‘A’ test positives have been discovered. No names or nationalities were released according to IAAF procedures.

Council approved the following cities as hosts for future IAAF World Athletics Series Events:

2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Fukuoka, Japan

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Moscow, Russia

2006 IAAF World Race Walking Cup – La Coruna, Spain

2006 IAAF World Junior Championships – Beijing, China

2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup – Cheboksary, Russia

Discussion of new IAAF Anti-doping Rules

Prof Arne Ljungqvist (SWE) and Lauri Tarasti (FIN) introduced a draft of the new IAAF Anti-Doping Rules following the Congress decision to adapt the WADA Code as the basis for the fight against doping.

Many of the proposed changes are structural, organisational or stylistic, but the scope of the IAAF anti-doping legislation will now include, not only athletes but athlete support personnel including coaches, managers, team staff and officials, doctors etc. It is also proposed that the ‘B’ sample analysis must take place no later than 21 days after the athlete has been notified of the ‘A’ result. At present, the rules allow for a maximum period of 48 days between notification of the ‘A’ test result and analysis of the ‘B’ sample.

The final version of the rules is expected to be revised in the next 10 days and introduced on 1 March 2004.

IAAF Competition Commission Report

Chairman Dapeng Lou (CHN) presented a report which was approved by Council. The Olympic Games Entry Standards, which were approved at the Council Meeting in Dakar last April, were slightly amended to reflect current performance levels and to facilitate the target figure of 2000 athletes for the Athens Games.

Transfer of Allegiance

It was also agreed that the Transfer of Allegiance Working Group, set up after the last Council meeting to study the growing problem linked to changes of nationalities (more than 100 athletes have changed nationality in the last 4 years) should be given more time to complete their mandate. Council accepted that it needed to consider a basic review of rules to overcome the deficiencies in the current system.

No Indoor 200m races from 2006

Following examination of the results from the last World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, it was clear that top performances depended solely on the lane draw. In the great majority of cases, winner and runner up came from lanes 5 and 6. Council agreed, following a recommendation of the Commission, that the 200m event be cancelled from the World Indoor Championships’ programme, starting in 2006.

IAAF Development Commission Report

Chairman Amadeo Francis (PUR) introduced the report of the IAAF Development Commission, and announced that 24% of the IAAF’s budget would be devoted to development in 2004. Projects include:

– The introduction of a new ‘Academy’ for coaches, and an international Code of Ethics for Coaches which is being considered by a working group consisting of Helmut Digel (GER), Teddy McCook (JAM) and Hansjörg Wirz (SUI). The structure of 6 Area Coaching Associations will also be consolidated, in co-operation with the new IAAF Coaches’ Commission;

– Identifying and selecting 50 athletes to train at IAAF High Performance and other accredited Training Centres with IAAF or Olympic Solidarity grants;

– Assisting 5 Member Federations who have existing projects to build synthetic tracks;

– Introducing U-23 Championships in Asia and South America;

– Working with Governments to introduce athletics in the school curricula.

2004 World Indoor Championships Progress Report

The event which will take place in Budapest’s Sportarena is a state of the art indoor facility, seating 6600, which was completed in spring 2003 but has already hosted major sports’ events (World Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics, and Ice Hockey) and pop concerts. The track laid for the Championships has been specially designed with wide bends, and banking of 10% gradient, in an effort to give athletes a better chance to produce optimal performances in running events.

‘This is the first time we have held a World Indoor Championships in an Olympic year and this event will be the IAAF’s biggest before Athens. We are very confident that our colleagues in Budapest, with our close support, will organise a spectacular competition.’

2004 World Cross Country Progress Report

During the progress report from Brussels 2004, Council Members were reminded that the IAAF World Cross Country Championships was returning to Belgium for the fourth time, a clear sign of that country’s deep affection for cross country running. The promotional campaign begins in December with a series of press conferences throughout the winter, backed up by a poster and TV advertising campaign to encourage as many spectators as possible. The course, which has a 2 km lap, is located in the park of the King’s Palace – a former venue for the annual Brussels IAAF cross country permit – and very convenient for athletes and officials who will be accommodated within walking distance.

Although the course has no more than a maximum of 25 metres difference in elevation, it is likely that the traditional Belgian weather will ensure ‘traditional’ cross country conditions for the runners. The competition will be shown live on national TV and 30% of the Belgian public are expected to tune in.

2004 World Race Walking Cup Progress Report

Alex Wladimiroff, with the assistance of 1988 Olympic women’s Discus Champion Martina Hellman, presented a progress report from Naumberg, venue of the next edition of the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in 2004.

Council learned that the city first dreamed of promoting a world class walking event more than 10 years ago and the enthusiasm has not dimmed. Naumberg can be considered as a cradle of race walking in Germany and aims to put on a superbly organised and exciting competition which will reinforce the status of race walking as an integral part of the athletics’ programme.

For more details contact:

The IAAF Communications Department at +377 93 10 88 88 or dpt.communications@iaaf.org