London will stage the 2017 world championships, beating Doha for the showcase event and assuring a track and field legacy after the 2012 Olympics.
The decision by the 27-member IAAF Council denied Qatar a second major global sports event after it was awarded the 2022 World Cup last year.
London won by a vote of 16-10. The International Association of Athletics Federations chose Europe rather than Doha despite a promise of an air-conditioned stadium to contain the desert heat and tens of millions in dollars to fund the sport.
Sebastian Coe, an IAAF vice president who heads the organising committee for the 2012 London Olympics, said the vote rewarded the city’s “global reach” and Britain’s long history in the sport.
Yohan Blake, the 21-year-old Jamaican who unexpectedly won the 100 metres at this year’s world championships, could still be competing in 2017 although his faster compatriots Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell are likely to have retired from the track by then.
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