Istanbul 2012 - Record Number of Entries

Monaco – The IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul which will take place from 9 to 11 March 2012 are shaping up to become the biggest gathering in terms of participating nations in the history of these championships, exceeding the previous record set four years ago in Valencia.

Following the deadline for Preliminary Entry Lists last Monday 12 December, no fewer than 160 of the IAAF’s Member Federations have confirmed their intention of sending a team to Istanbul.  

In Valencia 2008 147 countries took part in the event with the second best gathering taking place in Doha 2010 with 142 nations competing.

With the Final Entry Lists finalised on 27 February 2012 (midnight Monaco time), Istanbul 2012 is on track to break the record in terms of participating nations.                                 

In term of participating athletes, the previous record belongs to the edition of Paris 1997 where 712 men and women competed followed by Budapest 2004 with a total of 677 athletes.

Again, Istanbul could break more records as no fewer than 847 athletes have been entered in the Preliminary Entry Lists, 450 men and 397 women, figures which are on line to become the highest in the history of the World Indoor Championships.

The World Indoor Championships, which were first contested under the guise of the World Indoor Games in Paris in 1985 when 69 nations took part, attracted 147 nations for their edition in Valencia in 2008. Behind, the numbers that gathered for Doha 2010 were 142 nations, 139 nations for Budapest 2004, 136 for Lisbon 2001 and 133 for Birmingham 2003.
 

Read the full press release here