Pascal & Sergey back Doha’s 2019 Worlds bid

Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France and Russian Sergey Shubenkov (right) are the latest stars to back Doha’s bid to host 2019 World Championships.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Sergey Shubenkov have become the latest stars to back Doha’s bid to host the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The French and Russian young 110m hurdlers believe that Doha is the right choice for the future of global athletics.

At just 22 and 23 years of age respectively, Martinot-Lagarde and Shubenkov have already achieved a lot in their young careers. Martinot-Lagarde is a ferocious young talent who has this year dominated the Diamond League circuit.

The 2010 world junior champion last month won year 2014’s Diamond Race title following a superior number of points over his rivals, beating 2013 world champion David Oliver and Shubenkov into second and third place, respectively.

Shubenkov’s global breakthrough came at the World Championships in Moscow last year with a bronze medal in front of home crowd—his country’s first ever World Championship medal in hurdles. He also has two European titles to his name and is the first-ever European champion in the history of Russian high hurdles. Although Shubenkov has already made history, it is clear that there is much more to come from this rising star.

Having competed in front of his home crowd at a World Championships, Shubenkov understands the value of home support and the impact that hosting the event can have on a country. Since his bronze medal last year, there has been a spike in the popularity of hurdling in Russia with a huge increase in the number of hurdlers at last year’s Russian Championships.

Shubenkov feels that it is important for new regions to have the same opportunity so that more young people are inspired by athletics. This, combined with his experience of competing in Doha following a second-place finish at this year’s Diamond League meeting, means that he thinks Doha is the right choice for the 2019 World Championships in Athletics.

“I won a bronze medal (at the World Championships) in Moscow last year in front of my home crowd. The following week, my coach’s hurdling class had a huge increase in its intake. I am proud that I inspired more young Russians to take up hurdling.

“The Middle East has never hosted the World Championships before and 60% of this region are under the age of 30. This brings a fantastic opportunity to showcase athletics and introduce a new generation to track and field. I am supporting Doha 2019 because I believe that it would inspire a whole new region to participate in athletics,” Shubenkov said.

Martinot-Lagarde’s successful 2014 Diamond League started in Doha following a silver medal at this year’s World Indoor Championships. The Doha Diamond league brought him the first Diamond League points of the season, ensuring that Doha will always stick in his memory. However, it is his first-hand experience of Doha’s world-class facilities and high standard of service for athletes that are the reasons behind his support for Doha’s 2019 bid.

“An athlete, competing in one of the most important competitions of their lives, likes to think of nothing else other than giving the performance of his life. My experience of competing in Doha shows that they have thought of everything. The transport is very good, I loved the food, the facilities are fantastic, everything is very easy to access, the weather was perfect and the crowd were brilliant. I am supporting Doha 2019 because I know they will guarantee a successful World Championships,” the Frenchman said.

Speaking about the support of Shubenkov and Martinot-Lagarde, president of Qatar Athletics Association, Dahlan Jumaan al-Hamad said: “Sergey Shubenkov and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde are extremely talented young athletes who are ensuring that high hurdling and athletics has many exciting years ahead.

“We are honoured to have their support for the Doha 2019 bid and we are delighted that they recognise the opportunities that Doha will bring to the world of athletics. Hosting the World Championships in the Middle East for the first time ever will create a platform for athletics to reach new fans, new participants and new partners. It will inspire a new generation, a new region and a new culture to choose athletics as their number one sport.

“These athletes are likely to be at the prime of their careers in 2019 and a showdown between them could be one of the highlights of the World Championships. We are pleased that they have chosen Doha as their preferred venue to compete in one of the most important competitions of their lives.

“Doha offers guaranteed success thanks to our world-class facilities, our proven track record of hosting international athletics and sports events and our high standard of service for athletes, officials, spectators and the media.”

As well as hosting the annual Diamond League meeting, Doha also hosted the 2010 World Indoor Championships. The 2019 IAAF World Championships would he held at the Khalifa Stadium, which played host to the 2006 Asian Games and which is the centre piece of the Aspire Zone, a complex containing a large number of world-class sports stadia that regularly host major sports events, as well as state-of-the-art facilities for sports medicine, research and education.

Doha is competing against bids from Eugene and Barcelona. Each city submitted their candidature files on Sept 25 and, following the visits from the IAAF Evaluation Commission to the three cities, a final decision will be taken by the IAAF Council at its meeting in Monaco in November.