World Youth Championships

Bressanone/Brixen wins Mandate

November 17th, 2006 will forever mark the calendars of the “Südtirol 2009” LOC. At exactly 4:25 pm, Bressanone/Brixen won the mandate to host the 2009 World Youth Championships at the IAAF Congress in Monte Carlo. Never before was a city of this size (population of 20,360 as of 12/31/2008) host to this event. The reasons are of logistical nature. All the same, Bressanone/Brixen won. “Südtirol 2009” convinced the IAAF with its idea of a WYC of short distances and an accommodation concept that will turn Bressanone/Brixen into an athletes’ village. The delegation from South Tyrol included Stefano Andreatta (Event Manager) and Bruno Cappello (Technical Director) who together developed the concept of these WYC, Armin Bonamico (President of the South Tyrolean Athletics Federation) as well as a selected group of local politicians lead by Mayor Albert Pürgstaller.  

Why „Südtirol 2009“

The WYC is called “Südtirol 2009”. The reasons for this are clear. First, the LOC could only candidate as a province, as the city of Bressanone/Brixen alone would not have been able to get the mandate by itself. Second, the LOC had to abide by the general IAAF rules that permit official denominations only.

Participants Record

Aruba, Cook Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Comoros, Mariana Islands, Micronesia or Palau: those are but a few of the most interesting and lesser known of the participating countries. Almost all of the world’s 193 independent countries and the 20 additional member IAAF member states (e.g., Palestine) have qualified for starting at the WC. The official list of participating countries spans from A as in Afghanistan to Z as in Zimbabwe. 180 is the new record for World Youth Championships. Marrakesh held the previous record when 177 nations participated at the WYC in Morocco in 2005. The total comprises 45 countries from Europe, 39 from Africa, 36 from Asia, 30 from Middle and North America, 18 from Oceania and 12 from South America. The Netherlands is the only of the larger countries not to send anyone.
The coral island of Nauru (Oceania) is with a total size of 21 km2 and a population of 10,000 people the smallest participating country by two parameters. On the other spectrum we have Russia (17,075,200 km2) and the People’s Republic of China (1.33 billion people).
2038 people are accredited including coaches and support staff. 1339 are athletes (771 boys and 568 girls). The largest contingent is from the USA (51 athletes) ahead of the host country Italy (48). The highest number of officials will be attending from Italy and Rumania.
New Zealand is furthest away – the distance between the capital Wellington and Bressanone/Brixen is 18,600 km. Matteo Didioni, on the other hand, has the easiest commute. The only representative of South Tyrol lives but a few 100 yards from the Stadium. 130 media representatives from 27 nations have officially registered.

The previous editions

Here some statistics and locations of the previous editions.