WIC Doha done and dusted!

HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani holding his son as he stands with IAAF president Lamine Diack while attending the final day of the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha
Source Gulf Times

After showcasing the best-ever Asian Games in 2006, the successful staging of the 13th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha gave further evidence of Qatar’s ability as a host, stirring the imagination more than any previous events.
The championships, held for the first time in the Arab world, featured 650 athletes from 140 countries, generated euphoria far beyond anything anyone had thought. The three-day event concluded yesterday.
While the United States finished the championships on top with eight gold medals, France’s Teddy Tamgho gave the fitting finale to the Doha meet, setting a new world record in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 17.90m, eclipsing the previous best mark jointly held by Aliecher Urrutia of Cuba and Chritian Olsson Sweden.
There had initially been expressions of concerns among some quarters of athletes, especially those coming in from Europe, over Doha’s hot weather. But to the athletes’ amazement that never was an issue once they reached Qatar.
“I was told Doha could be fiendishly hot. But I’m really impressed with the facilities here,” said Spanish distance runner Natalia Rodriguez, referring to the Aspire Dome. Rodriguez, who split two Ethiopians 1500m gold medallist Kalkidan Gezahegne and Geleta Burka, to win the silver, was touched by the entire atmosphere over three days of the event.
“The event stirred the imagination more than any previous events I have competed in,” she said, referring to the local crowd cheering on the athletes.
“I felt so happy to have competed and won the gold medal running inside this amazing arena. This will live on in my memory forever,” said Gezahegne who became the youngest winner in indoor championships.
Visiting media representatives were also impressed with Qatar’s superb infrastructure and its handling of the global event.
“Doha provided exceptional championships,” said Davor Burazin, a Croatian journalist reporting the event for Sportske Novosti.
“It was a wonderful experience at and away from the venues and I will never forget the friendliness of the legions of volunteers, and hospitality of the locals,” he said.
Inaugurated in November 2005, the Aspire Dome is the world’s biggest indoor sporting area covering an area of 120,000 square metres. Designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, the dome houses 13 different indoor sporting facilities, all within a climate-controlled environment.
“I don’t think you can artificially force people into that euphoria until they get there,” said Burazin.
As Doha passed on the baton to Turkey, which will stage the 2012 edition of these biennial championships in Istanbul, sports officials exude confidence the success of these championships will help them win bigger events in the future.
“We’ve started a process here that will carry on the country in the power of sport,” said Abdulla al-Zaini, the director of the event’s Local Organisting Committee, referring to the FIFA World Cup that the country is bidding to host in 2022.
“I think people are being left behind with something good and powerful and uplifting,” said al-Zaini, who also chairs the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation