The Polish city of Toruń will host the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2021, the sport’s European governing body announced on Friday.

The Toruń Arena venue where the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held. Photo: arenatorun.pl

European Athletics made the announcement at a meeting in Berlin, Germany.

Toruń beat out the Dutch city of Apeldoorn in a close race to host the track-and-field event, European Athletics said.

It added that the north-central Polish city had won 11 votes versus Apeldoorn's four votes.

The event will be held at the city's Toruń Arena venue in early March 2021, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

This will be the second time the European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held in Poland, following the 1975 championships in its southern city of Katowice.

European Athletics Indoor Championships are held every two years. The next such event will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 1-3, 2019.

Poland won 12 medals, including seven gold, and topped the medal table at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

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Source: IAR, european-athletics.org </s> Yeeeeeeeeeeessssss! Yeeeeeeesss! Yeeeeeeeesss! Toruń will host European Indoor Championships in 2021!@monikapyrek, @MaciejGrzes, @ArenaTorun and the whole team behind that application - we did it! #itsTimeForTorunpic.twitter.com/0Sbk4xUNDi — Marek Plawgo (@maras400) 27 kwietnia 2018 </s> Budapest follows Rome and Hamburg to withdraw, leaving Paris and Los Angeles in the running to host

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Budapest on Wednesday became the latest city to drop out of the race to host the 2024 Olympic Games, after a petition garnered enough signatures to force a referendum on their bid.

"As the necessary unity in Budapest has been lost, the bid has lost all of its chances," the government of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced in a statement posted on its website.

"That is why the government of Hungary proposes to withdraw the candidacy from the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Budapest."

The Hungarian capital's decision leaves the battle to stage the 2024 Games between Paris and Los Angeles.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to reveal the winner on September 13.

Hamburg - following a referendum - and Rome had already pull out of the contest to succeed 2020 hosts Tokyo, both citing financial concerns.

Budapest's move was announced after the sports-mad Orban, a big champion of the bid, held talks with Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos and the Hungarian Olympic Committee on Wednesday evening.

"Budapest will formally ask the city council to withdraw Hungary's candidacy in agreement with the government," Tarlos was quoted as saying by the MTI news agency after the meeting.

The mayor had previously said he could not "ignore the will of the people" in light of the referendum push.

Hungary's bid was dealt a fatal blow after a group of young activists collected over a quarter million signatures of Budapesters within a month to hold a vote on the bid.

The Momentum Movement (MoMo) announced last Friday that it had garnered some 266,000 signatures, almost double the threshold required to trigger a ballot.

Within 24 hours, the Hungarian firm in charge of organising the event suspended its operations while awaiting a decision.

The so-called "Nolimpia" drive had been aided by several opposition parties critical of Orban, prompting the government on Wednesday to accuse them of turning the matter "into a political party affair".

The strongman had backed the bid, launched in 2015, as a reward for his country's rich Olympic record: only nine countries have won more medals in the history of the Games.

Supporters said that Budapest, which unlike Paris or Los Angeles has never hosted the Games, was more suited than its rivals to the IOC's low-cost 'Agenda 2020' strategy.

But critics, fearing spiralling costs and corruption, said taxpayers should decide how their money is being spent.

Recent polls also showed clear majorities in favor of withdrawing the bid.

Opponents had tried several times to force a referendum on the issue but were blocked by either city hall or the supreme court.

"The people should have been asked two years ago exactly to avoid such a situation," said MoMo leader Andras Fekete-Gyor.

Budapest's city council, which holds a majority of Fidesz MPs, now needs to approve the bid's withdrawal.

"I am sorry to see a dream dissolve," the chief of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, Zsolt Borkai, said at a council meeting earlier Wednesday.

When questioned by AFP, Paris-2024 choose not to comment on the development from the Hungarian capital. – Rappler.com </s> It will fall to King Felipe of Spain to officially open them on Friday (June 22), but his words will come against against a backdrop of political unrest in the wake of last October’s referendum on Catalan independence.

The growing crisis had a knock on effect which led to the postponement .

Feelings in the region continue to run high and many buildings are decorated with political symbols and yellow ribbons supporting leaders of the Catalan independence movement who have been imprisoned.

Organisers remain uncertain whether the leader of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Qim Torra I Pla, will carry out his threat to boycott the Opening Ceremony.

He vowed not to attend because the King and Spanish Government President Pedro Sanchez will both be there.

Torra called for the King to retract a speech in which he firmly backed the Madrid Government position.

The King was an Olympic sailor at Barcelona 1992 and was, for a long time, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee.

"Spain has always been a committed partner of the Olympic Movement and this will be proved once again in Catalonia, this time in Tarragona," he said.

"No effort has been spared."

A group of 26 nations are set to take part and a record 3.600 competitors have been arriving at the Athletes' Village in Port Aventura, 15km outside Tarragona.

Jesus Garcia Bragado is arguably the best qualified "Village Mayor" there has ever been.

A seven-time Olympic race walker, he won 50 kilometres gold at the 1993 International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Stuttgart and has taken part in more major events than anyone else.

"I’ve been to many [Athletes'] Villages during my career and this is one of the best organised I’ve ever seen," Bragado said.

"I am confident that it will work very well."

Many locals view this event as the biggest thing ever to come to Tarragona.

The headlines in the local newspaper Diari de Tarragona translates as "On your marks" and the old town, looking out over the gleaming Mediterranean, is already festooned with welcome banners, including the mascot Tarracus, a Roman centurion.

Tarracus is the result of a competition was held in schools throughout the region.

From some 10,000 entries, the winner was 13 year old Aleix Girona from the Abel Ferrater school in La Selva I Camp, 14km outside Tarragona .

His original drawing was adapted by French artist Jean Jullien to create the finished mascot.

Jullien had previously drawn the symbol for peace in the wake of the Paris terror attacks of 2015.

Tarracus wears a Roman helmet made of the water of the Mediterranean, with a plume in the colours of Tarragona.

He also wears a scarf of the type worn by Castellers, who celebrate festivals by climbing to form human towers or Castells.

Even the medals have been inspired by the look of Roman coins with irregular edges.

They are inscribed "Jocs Mediterranis" in Catalan, Spanish, Arabic, French and English.

They feature a charioteer and the legend Reditum al Arena - or return to the Arena - although competition here is not expected to be quite as fierce as the gladiatorial contests.

The ribbons hang from an arch which represents the "Aqueduct de les Ferrers", commonly known as the Pont del Diable, or Devil’s Bridge. </s> Budapest withdrew its bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday, reducing the competition to a two-city race between Los Angeles and Paris and handing an already embattled International Olympic Committee another embarrassing setback.

Wednesday’s announcement came as no surprise following weeks of growing opposition to the bid. The withdrawal came just days after opposition to Hungary’s Olympic campaign submitted more than 266,000 petition signatures to force a referendum on the bid. A poll released earlier Wednesday showed that 56 percent of Budapest voters and two-thirds of Hungarian voters opposed the bid.

“I never insisted on the Olympics,” Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos said. “There is no point dragging out this process like strudel dough.”

Budapest became the third city to withdraw its bid for the 2024 Games.

The IOC will vote to select the 2024 host city Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.

The U.S. Olympic Committee pulled Boston’s bid in July 2015 amid mounting public opposition and questions about the city and state’s financial and political commitment. Hamburg, Germany’s pursuit of the games ended in November 2015 when 51.6 percent of local voters rejected the bid in a referendum.

Rome withdrew this past September after Mayor Virginia Raggi announced she was opposed to the bid, saying hosting the games would be “irresponsible.”

“It is irresponsible to say yes to these Olympics,” Raggi said. “In light of the data we have, these Olympics are not sustainable. They will bring only debt.”

Earlier, Toronto, host of the 2015 Pan American Games, decided against launching a bid for the 2024 Games.

The Budapest decision is another major setback for IOC President Thomas Bach, who had hoped the organization’s Agenda 2020 reforms would make Olympic bidding more appealing and less financially daunting for cities.

Instead, eight cities have now pulled out bids for the last two available Olympic Games. Oslo, Norway, a heavy favorite to win the 2022 Winter Games, pulled its bid, with public support for the games sinking to 24 percent in some polls and local officials complaining about IOC demands. Stockholm’s 2022 bid lasted just two months; Lviv, Ukraine’s bid only seventh months. Krakow, Poland’s 2022 bid ended after 70 percent of voters rejected it in a referendum.

Voters also rejected Munich’s 2022 bid before it was even launched.

All of which left the IOC to choose between Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the 2022 host, the Chinese city winning the 2015 election. </s> The opening ceremony of the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) has taken place in Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat.



The ceremony was attended by a number of heads of state and government, including the presidents of Afghanistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.



Authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who exercises considerable control over virtually all aspects of society in the gas-rich former Soviet republic, appears to want to use the 11-day AIMAG to cast Turkmenistan as a regional success story and sports hub.

But human rights groups have raised concern over rights abuses in the run-up of the competition, including "massive housing violations" in Ashgabat by Turkmen authorities and their continued clampdown on independent voices.



Turkmenistan usually shuns outside visitors but for the AIMAG expects tens of thousands of foreigners to visit.



According to organizers, some 5,500 athletes from 62 countries will be contesting in 21 disciplines -- including tennis, ju-jitsu, cycling track, weightlifting, and taekwondo -- to September 27, making it Asia's second-largest sporting event.



The youngest athlete to participate was said to be a 13-year-old Pakistani swimmer, Jahan Ara Nabi.



The Turkmen government has spent billions of dollars preparing for the games -- the most prominent international event ever held in independent Turkmenistan -- including some $2.5 billion on a mammoth new airport built in the shape of a falcon in flight.



It also built an Olympic Complex located on 150 hectares on the outskirts of the capital and numerous state-of-the-art sporting facilities -- including the Olympic Stadium capable of holding 45,000 fans, a 6,000-seat indoor cycling track, a water-sports complex, an indoor tennis court -- complete with a circular 5-kilometer monorail system to carry athletes, officials, and fans around the complex.

Turkmen officials have said they were planning to bid for hosting other major sports events, including the Olympic Games.



Meanwhile, human rights groups have said homeowners and residents in Ashgabat have had to endure "massive housing violations" ahead of the competition.



The Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) in Vienna and the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on September 4 that the Turkmen government had "forcibly evicted" homeowners in Ashgabat and demolished their homes "without adequate compensation" in preparation for the games.



They said that Turkmen authorities had also "systematically demolished extensions and additions homeowners have made to their properties, without allowing them to appeal the demolition decisions to a court," in order to "standardize the city’s appearance."



The two human rights watchdogs have also called on the Olympic Council of Asia, as the organizer of the AIMAG, to remind Turkmenistan of its rights obligations.



The Olympic Council of Asia "should urge the Turkmen government to ensure that all journalists can do their work without fear of retaliation ahead of, during, and after the games," an August 8 statement said.



The call came after a correspondent for RFE/RL in Turkmenistan was threatened with death by a man who identified himself as a police officer.



While en route to take photos documenting Turkmenistan's Day of Bicycles on July 29, Soltan Achilova said the man warned her against taking photos or she would be "finished."



The previous week Achilova, 68, said a man tried to steal her phone as she was about to take a picture. The two recent attacks follow several incidents of harassment against Achilova in November 2016.



In an effort to improve the country's image when foreigners start arriving to compete in, or attend, AIMAG, Turkmen authorities have banned the sale of alcohol in Ashgabat, restricted the movement of residents of the provinces to the capital, ordered former inmates to stay away from the games' venues, and tried to clear the city of stray dogs and cats as well as child beggars.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service </s> Budapest has become the latest city to bow out of contention to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, leaving Los Angeles and Paris as the only candidates bidding to stage the Games.

The Hungarian city joined Rome and Hamburg in exiting the 2024 race after lukewarm public support doomed the bid. According to local media outlets, the official reasoning behind the pullout was the potential "loss of prestige" the city would suffer if its underdog bid didn't emerge as the winner.

According to Reuters, a poll released earlier Wednesday showed 56 percent of Budapest voters opposed a bid, while only a third of all Hungarians supported it.

The city's withdrawal followed a troubling recent trend for the Olympic movement, which has seen increasing reluctance from governments to follow through on the lengthy and expensive bidding and hosting process.

Bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics came down to just two finalists in 2015, Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, after Oslo dropped out months before the Games were eventually awarded to the Chinese city.

And of course Los Angeles is only in the mix for 2024 because the United States Olympic Committee's initial choice to bid for that summer's Games, Boston, pulled out in the face of heavy public opposition.

While Budapest's withdrawal should solidify support for a Paris Games among the European voting bloc, geographic diversity could work in Los Angeles' favor. European cities have hosted two Summer and two Winter Olympics since the last U.S.-based Games, Salt Lake 2002, and IOC president Thomas Bach has consistently encouraged a U.S. bid after the country stayed out of the running for the 2020 Summer Games.

Los Angeles has already hosted the Games twice, in 1932 and 1984.

The host country for 2024 will be announced at the IOC meetings in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 13. </s> BUDAPEST, Hungary– It’s down to Los Angeles and Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Budapest decided to withdraw its bid to host the games this afternoon.

The decision was made to avoid “a loss of international prestige” for Hungary, according to the Associated Press. Hungary’s bid reportedly had a very small chance of success.

The remaining two candidate cities will be up for an IOC vote to determine the host in September.

Previously, Hamburg (Germany) and Rome (Italy) withdrew their 2024 Olympic bids. The last time only two cities were finalists for a Summer Olympics was back in 1988, when it was down to Seoul (Korea) and Nagoya (Japan.) The 2022 Winter Games also came down to two cities: Beijing (China) and Almaty (Kazakhstan.)

Los Angeles and Paris are bidding to host the games for a record-tying third time. Only London (England) has done that. L.A. previously hosted in 1932 and 1984, while Paris hosted in 1900 and 1924.

The United States hasn’t hosted a Summer Games since 1996 (when it was in Atlanta, Georgia) and a Winter Games since 2002 (when it was in Salt Lake City, Utah.) </s> Northern Italy was chosen Monday as the site of the 2026 Winter Olympics, with hosting to be shared by the economic and fashion capital of Milan and the ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, as the International Olympic Committee desperately tries to curb waning interest, spiraling costs and white elephant competition venues associated with the games. The Italian bid was chosen over the only other candidate, a dual bid between Stockholm and the ski resort of Are, Sweden, in a vote of 47-34 by IOC delegates. Northern Italy had been expected to win, given that there was much broader public support there and a greater willingness by government officials to offer financial guarantees.

While both bids offered countries where winter sports thrive and where there is experience hosting major events – Cortina hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics — the candidacies struggled at times to become convincing choices. And for the second bidding process in a row, the Winter Games ended up with only two finalists after five other potential candidates withdrew or were deemed insufficiently prepared. With fewer cities willing to bankroll the billions needed to operate the Winter Games, the 2026 finalists reflected the IOC’s effort at reform by allowing Olympic hosting to be shared by different cities, different regions and even different countries. The Swedish bid, for instance, planned to hold the bobsled, luge and skeleton events across the Baltic Sea in Sigulda, Latvia, where a refrigerated track already exists. But Stockholm, the Swedish capital, never seemed fully committed, even though the operation of the games was to use no public money beyond security and the maintenance of existing infrastructure and sports venues.

Stockholm had dropped out of the bidding for the 2022 Winter Games for financial reasons — those Olympics were awarded to Beijing — and only slightly more than half of Sweden’s population had supported the 2026 bid. Stockholm officials had declined to sign the official IOC hosting contract, leaving it to Are, its co-host, if the bid was successful. It seemed, too, for a time that an Italian bid might not materialize. Nine months ago, a proposed bid among Milan, Cortina and Turin, which hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics, fell apart in a political squabble among the cities’ mayors. Italy’s sports minister declared the bid dead. It was an embarrassing moment for Italy. Rome had dropped out of bidding for the 2020 and 2024 Summer Games because of financial concerns and political opposition. But the Italian bid for the 2026 Winter Games was recast, and it prevailed Monday in a vote by IOC delegates in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the Olympic committee is headquartered. The IOC’s polling showing that more than 80% of Italians supported the candidacy. The initial operating budget is projected at $1.7 billion, but these costs always rise, often significantly. The IOC has pledged to contribute $925 million to organizers from television rights, corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising. Italy has proposed to spread the 2026 Games among several cities between Milan and Cortina, which are about 250 miles apart. The opening ceremony will be held at Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, which hosted the 1990 soccer World Cup, and the closing ceremony is scheduled to take place in an amphitheater in Verona.

The costs of hosting the Winter Games drew a jaw-dropping reaction when Russia spent $51 billion to construct and operate the 2014 Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The 2022 Games were awarded to Beijing almost by default as a number of potential host cities withdrew. The only other remaining bidder, Almaty, Kazakhstan — located in a former Soviet republic that gained its independence in 1991 — built only mixed public support for the games, lacked name recognition and had no real experience hosting major international sporting events. Still Almaty narrowly lost by a vote of 44-40. That left Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Summer Games but which does not have much of a winter sports history. It will use some existing arenas from 2008, including the Bird’s Nest stadium. But upon winning the 2022 bid, Beijing officials said they would also rely on an extensive artificial snow-making operation and a high-speed train project that would link Beijing with clusters of venues in the mountains as far as 100 miles away. Bidding for the 2026 Games experienced a similarly withered field of candidates as public interest flagged or rose in opposition in Calgary, Alberta; Sion, Switzerland; Graz, Austria; and Sapporo, Japan. The IOC did not consider a bid by Erzurum, Turkey, as sustainable.
The city of Toruń in Poland wins the right to host the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, defeating Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.