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On August 8 the International Association of Athletics Federations Council meeting was over in Kyiv. The prominent athletics personalities from 33 countries of the world gathered for their meeting for two days in the capital of Ukraine.

The IAAF Council meeting, held on August 7 and 8, was preceded by the IAAF Commissions meetings and a number of meetings of the IAAF President Mr Lamine Diack with the state and government officials of our country.

In particular, just upon arrival to Ukraine Mr. Diack met with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who awarded the world athletics leader with the First Class Order of Merit.

The next day, the IAAF leader discussed the prospects of development and popularization of "the Queen of Sports" on the territory of Ukraine during his meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister Boris Kolesnikov and the Minister of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports Ravil Safiullin.

Today at a press conference the IAAF President Lamine Diack, the IAAf Senior Vice-President Sergey Bubka and the IAAF General Secretary Pierre Weiss informed on the results and main decisions of the meeting.

"First of all, I would like to thank you for the invitation and the work to all who took care of the organization of the meeting in Kyiv. These were two days of fruitful work, during which a number of important decisions were adopted. In particular, we have chosen the host city of the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships. It is Kavarna in Bulgaria. Moreover, the plan and venues of the celebrations on occasion of 100th anniversary of the IAAF were determined, which we will celebrate in Barcelona in 2012", said the IAAF President Lamine Diack during the conference.

"Moreover, during a meeting with the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Borys Kolesnikov I learned about Ukraine's intention to apply to host the 2014 IAAF Junior World Championships in Donetsk. This initiative is fully supported by the IAAF ", he added.

Answering journalists' questions, Mr. Diack told about the main areas of the IAAF activities in the coming years. According to him, pursuant to the IAAF Plan for the period 2003-2013, the priority is to encourage young people to engage in this sport. A special program being actively implemented throughout the world is aimed at involvement of the 7-12 years old children in athletics.

Summarizing the IAAF Council meeting in Kyiv, Sergei Bubka said that organization of the forum was highly appreciated, in particularly the fact that the highly esteemed meeting was held in our country is not only a proof of glorious traditions of the national athletics school, but also is an evidence that Ukraine is able to organize large sports events on a high level - both congresses and sessions, championships and tournaments.

NOC of Ukraine