Beijing world championships nearing sellout

The upcoming 2015 world track and field championships will see stands which are nearing full-capacity.

The event, being held at the Beijing National Stadium, built for the 2008 Olympics and known colloquially as the Bird’s Nest, is inching towards soldout crowds. The morning session are over 80 per cent sold and evening sessions are over 90 per cent sold, according to a report from the International Association of Athletics Federations.

If the report is correct, the championships will see a stark difference from the 2013 championships in Moscow, which notoriously saw half-empty stands for much of the competition. The Bird’s Nest also seats over 10,000 more spectators than Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

“I am now convinced that we will have a great atmosphere in the Bird’s Nest stadium for the world’s top sporting event of 2015, and I thank our friends in China – including the Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China Liu Peng and the Mayor of Beijing Wang Anshun – for stepping up their efforts in the promotional campaign with such impressive results,” said IAAF president Lamine Diack in a press release. “We now have the possibility to have a sold-out stadium for evening sessions, which will be a fantastic achievement.”

This world championships will be Diack’s last at the head of the organization. A new IAAF president will be picked when Diack’s term concludes in October.

The world championships will run from Aug. 22-30.