Grand prix boost for Birmingham
Birmingham is to host a major athletics event next summer after the city council signed a three-year deal with UKA, the governing body for athletics in Britain. The Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, to take place at the Alexander Stadium, will feature as part of the Samsung Diamond League. It will become one of 14 venues hosting the top 80 athletes in the world.
New York, Rome, Shanghai and Monaco are among the other venues taking part in the Diamond League. The city has also extended its contracts to host the Aviva UK Trials and Championships, also to be held at Alexander Stadium in 2011.
Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby hailed the deal as "another major coup for Birmingham, underlining our status as Britain’s sporting city".
UKA chief executive Niels de Vos said: “We are delighted to be bringing the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix to the city as part of the Samsung Diamond League. The people of Birmingham will get to see the world’s greatest athletes on their doorstep in the run up to the Olympics.”
Plans for a £12.25m redevelopment of the Birmingham Alexander Stadium were given the green-light in September, with work already underway on a new 5,000-seater stand. Work is scheduled to finish in May.
