SPASIBA MOSCOW! SAYS IAAF PRESIDENT LAMINE DIACK.

The concluding IAAF Press Conference at the IAAF World Championships Moscow 2013 took place before the start of the last day of athletics in the Luzhniki Stadium and the guests on Sunday included IAAF President Lamine Diack and Minister of Sports of Russia and Chairman of the Moscow 2013 Local Organising Committee Vitaly Mutko.

“The IAAF World Championships in Moscow have been a wonderful celebration of athletics, the world has been focussed on athletics,” said Diack, reflecting on the last nine days which have showcased the very best athletes in the world.

“The TV data for the opening 3 days is very encouraging with an increase in the audience on the last World Championships In 2011, five billion people around the world watched and we are confident that number will be bettered for Moscow.

“Over a quarter of a million stadium spectators have attended the eight evening sessions, adding VIPS, guests, media and athletes then the total audience is over 390,000. Aside from football, no other Olympic sport can attract that number of spectators to a stadium for its World Championships.

“Moscow has again proved we are the most universal of all sports and 203 nations competed, this is a record for the IAAF World Championships. We will leave Moscow with wonderful memories especially of the field events and the relays.

“We have also been active in our fight against cheating to ensure the credibility of the competitions and we are proud to confirm that in Moscow the IAAF have taken close to 1900 blood samples and 100 urine samples in the pre-competition period and 500 in-competition urine samples.

“The Local Organising Committee has provided us with optimum conditions for our Congress and Championships. I want to thank everybody involved with these Championships but especially I wish to thank the thousands of volunteers for giving-up their time to make these Championships possible.

“My personal highlights included the 100m and 200m double by Usain Bolt, and the 5000m and 10,000m double by Mo Farah; then there was the high jump with Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko and, of course, a thrilling women’s 4x400m. It’s this type of competition you want," added President Diack.