London Stadium will play host to a groundbreaking athletics competition in July, with the venue hosting the newly-launched Athletics World Cup London 2018.
Staged over two floodlit sessions on 14 & 15 July, Great Britain and Northern Ireland will compete against the USA, Poland, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa in track and field events.
Following on from the success of London 2017 which saw the capital become the first city ever to stage both the World Para Athletics and IAAF World Athletics Championships in the same year, fans of the sport will once again see the best countries competing in the UK, in the greatest athletics stadium in the world.
All track and field events up to the 1,500m will be contested between the eight nations in a straight final format, with only one male and female athlete from each country selected in each event.
“This is one of the exciting innovative events we are seeing in our sport and our thanks go to British Athletics and the Mayor of London for creating it and hosting it. We have 8 lanes, 8 top nations, 8 teams and a host of world class athletes lining up in each event to win the trophy and prize pot. This will be a fast-paced and exhilarating experience for athletes and fans.” said IAAF President, Sebastian Coe.
In 2017, London became the first city to host both the IAAF World Athletics Championships and IPC World ParaAthletics championships in the same summer. More than 1,000,000 spectators visited London Stadium throughout the championships, culminating in a Guinness World Record for the best attended IAAF championship ever.
To mark 100 years since women were given the right to vote, and as part of the Mayor of London’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign, the first edition of the event will see all Nations select a female athlete as team captain.
“When it comes to hosting world-class sport, no other city does it quite like London,” added The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
“Holding the first-ever World Para Athletics and World Athletics Championships together in London last summer, will live long in the memory and we are again looking forward to welcoming the world’s best athletes and sports fans from around the globe to our great city.
“It’s fitting that each nation competing in the Athletics World Cup will be captained by a woman as we mark the centenary of the first women securing the right to vote, I am delighted British Athletics has joined me in the #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign to support the continuing success of women and our push for greater gender equality from all backgrounds.”
Fans can register their interest in attending the Athletics World Cup from 13:00 today, 5 February at www.athleticsworldcup.org
