Nanjing ready to host World Athletics Indoor Championships

After a five-year delay, the Chinese city of Nanjing is counting down to hosting the World Athletics Indoor Championships from 21st to 23rd March.

Nanjing - a city of 9.3 million people - had initially been set to host the 2020 World Indoor Championships, but it was postponed several times due to the Covid pandemic. The event was first rescheduled to 2021, then again in 2023, but all these dates were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations in China.

In between, the 2022 edition took place in Belgrade, Serbia, and the 2024 edition in the UK city of Glasgow.

The first major international sporting event of the year, the Championships will be held in purpose-built venue - known as the Nanjing Cube - at the Nanjing Sports Training Centre in the city’s Jiangbei New District.

The first venue in China to be equipped to host the World Indoor Athletics Championships, construction of the Nanjing Cube started in September 2017.

The competition hall has a floor area of 9,000 square metres with a net height of 16 metres, while the warm-up hall has a floor area of 6,500 square metres with a net height of 8 metres.

Within the big Cube the 200 metre running track features a 12-15 degree cambered surface to allow athletes to balance centrifugal forces.

The competition hall has a floor area of 9,000 square metres with a net height of 16 metres, while the warm-up hall has a floor area of 6,500 square metres with a net height of 8 metres.

Within, the big Cube has been equipped with a six lane, 200 metre running track featuring a 12-15 degree cambered surface to allow athletes to balance centrifugal forces while, for sprints it has eight 60-metre straight lanes.

It also has spaces for high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put.

Nanjing has in recent years established itself as a sporting city, hosting a range of international, national and provincial events including the National Indoor Athletics Grand Prix, the China Athletics Street Circuit and the Nanjing Marathon.

Yet across the city the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium lies largely unused since the collapse of Jiangsu FC of the Chinese Super League in early 2021.

The 61,443 capacity venue, opened in 2005 ahead of the National Games of China, was a host stadium of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and stages athletics events. However, it lacks an anchor tenant.

Jiangsu FC was one of a number of Chinese Super League that faced suffered financial issues after the Covid pandemic.

Once described as fourth-wealthiest football team in China, Jiangsu won the Super League for the first time in 2020 but ceased operating just a matter of months later.

Images: The running track in the competition hall at the Nanjing Cube (top) and the Nanjing Sports Training Centre from the air (below). Credit: World Athletics Indoor Championships LOC.