UK Athletics confirms Lee Valley as site of London
2005 World Championships
IAAF & UK Athletics
18 January 2001 - In recent months, there had been much speculation as to whether UK Athletics, the British governing body, would be able to take the IAAF World Championships to a rebuilt Wembley Stadium. Today, the announcement has finally been made of the definitive choice of Picketts Lock, Lee Valley as the Championships' venue.
UK Athletics, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) and the London Borough of Enfield today all welcomed the confirmation of Picketts Lock as the location for the new national athletics centre.
The new venue - named the Lee Valley National Athletics Centre - will provide a 43,000-seat stadium, warm up track and associated facilities for the IAAF World Athletics Championships - London 2005. Longer term the Centre will provide a magnificent legacy for athletics in the UK. This legacy will include a permanent 20,000-seat national stadium for future athletics events, the London High Performance Centre incorporating a 200m indoor track (part of the English Institute of Sport network). The National Athletics Centre will also be available for community use.
In a statement released by Uk Athletics today, David Moorcroft, Chief Executive of UK Athletics said:"It was right to revisit Wembley one more time but Picketts Lock was always our first choice. The great thing about the site is that all the land is in the single ownership of LVRPA and there is space to provide everything we need for our sport here in London.
"It really is the number one choice for a national athletics centre as it will create a dedicated, purpose-built stadium, High Performance Centre, throwing field and warm up track. We must now all work together to deliver the facilities for the 2005 Championships and a permanent legacy for athletics."