The Polish athletics federation celebrated ‘One Year to Torun’ on Thursday (5) and marked just 365 days to the next European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will take place from 5-7 March 2021.
“Today we it is just 365 days to start the event. In total, about ,500 people directly associated with the championships will come to Torun such as athletes, coaches, medical services and journalists,” said the championships director and President of the Kujawy-Pomerania Province Athletics Association Krzysztof WolsztyÅ„ski.
“We have a promotional plan prepared, this year we will be at most at athletics events that will take place in Poland, but also abroad, including at the European Athletics Championships in Paris.
“Today the official website of the event www.torun2021.pl is launched and a special clock has been hung in the ToruÅ„ Arena Sports Hall, which measures the time to the start of the championships.”
Polish pole vault star Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 world champion and reigning European indoor champion who is aiming to defend the title he won in Glasgow 12 months ago, became the first ambassador of Torun 2021.
⌛ Pora rozpocząć odliczanie do Halowych Mistrzostw Europy #Torun2021 pozostało tylko 3⃣6⃣5⃣ dni
— PZLA (@PZLANews) March 5, 2020
Z tej okazji w @ArenaTorun odbyła się konferencja prasowa
✅WiÄ™cej: https://t.co/iTwgnwWXL8#PZLA @emenews @EuroAthletics @torunpl @PKN_ORLEN pic.twitter.com/YoSePv5J9x
“Retaining the title at the championships will certainly be difficult, but not impossible. After what happened in pole vault competitions this winter and the heights cleared by the world record holder Mondo Duplantis, I can already say that the level of this competition will certainly be very high,” commented Wojciechowski.
“I will definitely fight, and I will do my best. This season was not kind to me but here in Torun there was a breakthrough when I won the gold medal in the Polish championships. And here I was a participant in the competition in which the world record was broken,” added the vaulter.
Torun, which has a Sportflex Super X surface installed by European Athletics Green Inspiration Partner Mondo, will stage Poland’s second European Athletics Indoor Championships, after Katowice was the host for the 1975 edition in Katowice.
“We have long wanted European Athletics to entrust us with organising these championships. We lost twice when bidding, once with Belgrade (who staged the championships in 2017) and then once with Glasgow. Finally, in Berlin in April 2018, we were entrusted with organising these championships,” added the Torun Deputy Mayor Zbigniew Fiderewicz.
Ticket sales for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be opened later in the year, after the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships in Paris.
The local organisers also announced on Thursday that there will be a competition for fans to choose a mascot and further championships ambassadors will also be unveiled.