Christchurch Prepared for IPC Site Inspection

IPC Athletics Sport Manager Helen Murphy and IPC Athletics Head of Technical Control Craig Cascadden met in Christchurch, New Zealand, with representatives from the bid authority to discuss the bid documents, give constructive feedback, answer questions and get a first impression of the city and proposed venues.

Said Ms. Murphy: “This site inspection visit is a landmark occasion for IPC Athletics in terms of the IPC Competition Management Process. Never has such a detailed bid process been applied to IPC Sport World Championships. I was given a strong sense of what Christchurch the city, the people, the infrastructure can offer together with the over-whelming local and central governmental support and commitment towards hosting the World Championships.”

In 2006, several cities from around the world followed a call for expressions of interest to host the 2010 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in Athletics and submitted the bid application questionnaire.

In January 2007, the IPC reviewed the submitted material and selected Barcelona (Spain) and Christchurch (New Zealand) to continue in the formal bid application process. Since then, the applicants were required to submit the completed bid application, which has been reviewed by the IPC.

The site inspection visit to Barcelona will follow from 16 to 18 October. In November, the bid applicants will then be invited to present to the IPC World Championships Bid Evaluation Committee the final bid proposal. The Committee will recommend the preferred bid to the IPC Governing Board, who will then award the 2010 World Championships in November 2007.

Site inspections visit to the bid cities for IPC Swimming will be also conducted in the next month.