London Bids for Athletics Worlds; Turkey Gets Curling Champs; Pirate Fears Impact Sailing

London Bids for Athletics Worlds

Sebastian Coe will lead another London bid for a major sporting event, this time the 2017 International Association of Athletics Federations world championships.

U.K. Athletics announced Thursday its intention to bid.

Coe will lead the bid team, comprised of leading officials from British sport and government.

"The IAAF and the athletics family have been unwavering in their support for an Olympic legacy and played a crucial role in securing it," Coe said in a statement.

"A successful bid will be our opportunity to say thank you for that constant support by delivering a fantastic IAAF World Championships in London that will help drive more young people in to the sport."

British sport minister Hugh Robertson echoed Coe’s belief that the 2012 Olympics are laying the groundwork for a successful bid.

"The demand for London 2012 athletics tickets proves the level of public support that exists for world class track and field," he said. "Hosting the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships would be a wonderful legacy from London 2012 and help us fulfil a commitment made during the bid."

The venue for the championships would be London Olympic Stadium. Its post-Games legacy was caught in a protracted fight earlier this year. Two clubs in the English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, bid to become the stadium’s future tenant. Tottenham's proposal called for removing the athletics track and eventually failed, though the club is currently challenging the decision of the Olympic Park Legacy Company in court.

Nearly every key figure in British sport, and many in the government, soundly denounced the idea of removing the track as a strong athletics legacy was a major part of London’s Olympic bid.

Curling Championships Head to Turkey

The 2012 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship will be held in Erzurum, Turkey.

The World Curling Federation and the Turkish Ice Skating Federation (TBPF) announced Thursday the Milli Piyango Curling Hall, which was built for the curling competition of the 2011 Winter Universiade, will host the event from April23 to 29.

"Following on from the resounding success of the curling competition at the 2011 Winter Universiade, we expect the 2012 Mixed Doubles Championship to be another first class event," WCF president Kate Caithness said in a statement.

TBPF president Fahrettin Kandemir said he's very proud Turkey is hosting the championship, considering the newness of the sport to his country.

"Curling has only been played in Turkey for two years and the Universiade 2011 was the very first international curling competition held in Erzurum," he said.

"We strongly believe that organizing these events serve to develop the sport further."

Turkey currently lacks a curling federation. The sport is organized under the auspicesof the skating federation.

Mixed doubles differs slightly from traditional curling, including two players instead of four and six stones instead of eight.

Fear of Pirates Impacts Round-the-World Yacht Race

One of yachting’s flagship events is redrawing its route due to piracy concerns off the coast of East Africa.

Volvo Ocean Race organizers announced Thursday boats would still set sail Oct. 29 from Alicante, Spain and return to port July 7 in Galway, Ireland. They’ll just plot a slightly different course to get there.

Instead of taking an East African corridor in the Indian Ocean on the second leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi and again in the third leg from Abu Dhabi to China, vessels will instead head from Cape Town to an undisclosed "safe haven" port and then be transported closer to Abu Dhabi. The opposite will occur on the reverse-end of the race.

"The measures taken by the Volvo Ocean Race are very much in line with the advice that the International Sailing Federation has been giving for some time," said International Sailing Federation (ISAF) secretary general Jerome Pels.

"The ISAF strongly urges all yacht skippers intent on sailing anywhere in the area to seek an alternative, which the Volvo Ocean Race is now providing."

According to Dryad Maritime Intelligence, the marine safety experts consulted by race organizers, a record 1,181 seafarers were kidnapped by pirates last year.

Written by Ann Cantrell.