2014 IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings and IAAF Race Walking Challenge one week to go

Monaco - There is just over a week to go until the start of both the 2014 IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting season and the 2014 IAAF Race Walking Challenge.

Saturday 1 February sees the German city of Karlsruhe stage the first of six top-level indoor meetings during an action-packed two weeks which will act as a prelude to the IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will be hosted in Sopot, Poland, between 7-9 March.

After Karlsruhe, the Russian Winter meeting in Moscow, Russia, will be staged the next day (Sunday 2 February) which is followed by competitions in Stockholm, Sweden (Thursday 6 Feb), Boston, USA (Saturday 8 Feb), Gent, Belgium (Sunday 9 Feb) and Birmingham, Great Britain (Saturday 15 Feb).

Without a global outdoor championship on the calendar this summer, many athletes who made the medal podium at last summer’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow are looking to repeat their feats in the Russian capital in Sopot and many of the sport’s top stars have planned to make appearances at IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings as part of their preparations for their trip to Poland in less than two months’ time.

The 12th edition of the annual IAAF Race Walking Challenge gets underway in the southern hemisphere with the Oceania 20km Race Walk Championships in Hobart, Australia, staging the first of 12 meetings that will count towards determining this year’s Challenge winner.

Helping give the Challenge a flying start, Australia’s 2013 Challenge winner Jared Tallent will compete on home soil in Hobart.

The most consistent athletes throughout the season will share the USD $202,000 prize purse, which includes a USD $30,000 first prize, which last year was won by Tallent and Russia’s dominant 2013 World Championships 20km race walk winner Yelena Lashmanova.

For more information, visit http://www.iaaf.org/

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