for the home event, has set a relatively modest goal of finishing in the top 10 in 10 events here,

But Moon Bong-gi, head coach of the Korean athletics team is hoping to claim the country’s first-ever medal at the Worlds. He said earlier that Kim Hyun-sub, who set a national record of 1 hour 19 minutes 31 seconds in March, the seventh fastest time this season, has a real chance to win a medal in men’s 20-kilomter race walk on Sunday.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Daegu is all set to proudly host the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, a nine-day competition starting Saturday.

It is the first Korean city and the third in Asia to host the event that will draw some 2,000 athletes from 202 countries to vie ina variety of tests of athletic prowess.

Sprint sensation Usain Bolt of Jamaica, three-time world champion Allyson Felix of the United States, pole vault great Yelena Ishinbayeva and Oscar Pistorius, the first physically-challenged runner to compete in able-bodied races, are already in the southern city.

The main venue of this year’s world championships, Daegu Stadium, built for the 2002 World Cup, has been specially upgraded to provide every convenience for the athletes, their fans, viewers and the media. In particular, the 66,422-seat stadium has added a blue Mondo track, known for boosting runners’ performances.

The stadium also features a new main scoreboard at the south end and an auxiliary scoreboard at the north end, along with a temporary electronic board above the seats on the east side to keep abreast of