IAAF President Lamine Diack has endorsed a report on the latest promotional and ticket-selling programme of the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015. This was delivered in person by Vice President of Chinese Olympic Committee Li Yingchuan and General Secretary of the Chinese Athletics Association and IAAF Council Member Du Zhaocai.
“I was delighted to hear that in the past couple of weeks, with the coordinated support of the Mayor of Beijing and many Chinese government ministries, a major push has been given to promotional activities and ticket sales,” said President Diack.
“The latest ticket sales chart received by the IAAF now shows an average of more than 80% of capacity in the morning sessions and more than 90% of capacity for the evenings.
“I am now convinced that we will have a great atmosphere in the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the world’s top sporting event of 2015, and I thank our friends in China – including the Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China Liu Peng and the Mayor of Beijing Wang Anshun – for stepping up their efforts in the promotional campaign with such impressive results,” added President Diack.
“We now have the possibility to have a sold-out stadium for evening sessions, which will be a fantastic achievement.”
Over recent weeks, promotional projects such as ‘Athletics on Campus’ and ‘Athletics in the Community’ have increased awareness.
In addition, a ‘30 Days to Go’ countdown event on 22 July, with the participation of IAAF ambassador Heike Drechsler, saw the launch of the official song and an exclusive series of stamps.
Both CCTV and Beijing TV are also planning extensive campaigns to help promote the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 in the final three weeks before the start of competition on 22 August.
As they approach the final straight, the LOC is working even harder on promotion, with a series of activities designed to increase awareness, not just of the event but of the sport of athletics, especially among the young and particularly via social media.
From 1 August, 13,000 IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 banners – depicting both the official mascots as well as Chinese and international athletics – will be erected alongside some of the Chinese capital’s principal roads, at the airport, in areas around official venues and hotels, as well as on the marathon route in downtown Beijing.
