Singapore has lost out to Japan in its bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
The Singapore25 bid, which also involved hotelier and Singapore Grand Prix supremo Ong Beng Seng, was not good enough to edge out Japan to the hosting rights.
The 2025 World Athletics Championships will see track and field’s biggest stars return to Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, which was the venue for last year’s Olympic Games, in the year that the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) celebrates its centenary year.
Apart from Singapore and Japan, the other candidates who had submitted bids to host the event were Nairobi and Silesia.
According to the world body, Tokyo scored the highest of the four candidates in the bid evaluation across the four focused areas: the potential for a powerful narrative; revenue generating opportunities for World Athletics; a destination that will enhance the international profile of the sport; and appropriate climate.
One of the most populated cities in the world with 43.8 million people in the Greater Tokyo area, Tokyo is an advanced market for athletics and associated growth opportunities, said World Athletics.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, “Within an extremely strong field of candidates to host the World Athletics Championships 2025, Tokyo offered a compelling bid.”
“I hope this will be a shining light for Japan as they celebrate 100 years of the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) in 2025, by bringing world-class athletics back to the people in Tokyo.”
MAIN PHOTO: World Athletics