WORLD INDOOR: Belgrade ready to welcome the return of athletics with live crowds

More than four years have passed since the last edition, which has only served to heighten the anticipation of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, which begins on Friday in the Serbian capital.

At the pre-event press conference, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, Serbian Athletics Federation president Veselin Jevrosimovic and five of the leading medal contenders at the championships spoke about their excitement ahead of the three-day competition.

“I’m very excited,” said Coe. “It seems incredible that the last time had a World Indoor Championships was back in 2018. We all know why we’ve had to wait so long for the next edition; the world has been through some trying times and it remains a complicated place. But I’m delighted to be here, I’m delighted that sport can show the healing powers it does, and the ability to bring more than 100 nations together for these championships.

“I’m also delighted that this will be the first time since the 2019 World Championships in Doha that there will be a live crowd,” he added. “For the athletes I’m sure it will make a huge difference in their performances. Having said that, the lack of a crowd hasn’t obviously been a diminishing factor in the way they’ve performed over the past two years.

"But the intimacy of indoor racing, the occasion of a World Championships, the ability as a federation to do all the things that we are pioneering and doing around our sport’s presentation is really important. It’s no better exemplified than at a World Indoor Championships. I know we’re going to be blessed with some great competitions and some exciting head-to-heads.”

 “I have to thank Sebastian and World Athletics for trusting us in hosting the World Indoor Championships, one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” said Jevrosimovic. “The arena is completely ready, we have achieved an amazing feat in engineering within a very short space of time. We’re ready to start the competition tomorrow with more than 680 international athletes who’ll be competing for the highest honours in athletics.

“I’d like to thank a number of people and institutions, including the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the government of the Republic of Serbia, the city of Belgrade, the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Serbia, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia.”