With just over 100 days to go until the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, a delegation from European Athletics travelled to the Polish city to inspect the facilities and examine the preparations on the first in-person site visit since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March.
The European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held from 5-7 March at the Arena Torun, the stadium in which Armand Duplantis broke the world pole vault record in February. This will be just the second time Poland has hosted the championships after Katowice in 1975.
At the conclusion of the three-day site visit, European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: “During our three days in Torun, we met with the Local Organising Committee who are working exceptionally hard in challenging and unforeseen circumstances and we are very pleased with the progress of the preparatory work ahead of next year’s championships.
“We also had the chance to inspect the competition facilities including the Arena Torun, one of Europe’s foremost indoor arenas and a stadium befitting our flagship indoor event. Based on the level of preparedness on the ground in Torun and the work we are carrying out - alongside the LOC and local authorities - in devising a robust sanitary plan, I am optimistic that Torun will be our first major event to take place since the pandemic.”
Under current guidelines as specified by the Polish government, sporting events in Poland are currently taking place behind closed doors although championship director Krzysztof Wolsztyński hopes fans will be allowed entry into the Arena Torun next March.
“Our competition will be the first important international competition since the World Athletics Championships in Doha in the autumn of 2019. This makes the interest in ToruÅ„ really huge.
“It would be a shame if the fans cannot experience these emotions while sitting in the stands of Arena ToruÅ„. Unfortunately, it does not depend on us, but I keep my fingers crossed that in March the situation will allow us to let the viewers in,” he said.