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Moscow in line to host 2011 event

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MOSCOW, Russia -- Moscow has a very good chance of hosting the 2011 world athletics championships, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Lamine Diack has said.

"Russia is giving a great example nowadays of how to successfully promote athletics in a country with a cold climate," said Diack.

"That's why we feel that Moscow has a very good chance of staging the world championships in 2011 despite the fact that we have eight other countries competing for this."

Russian president Vladimir Putin believes Moscow would be a great host.

"This year Moscow staged the world indoor championships and I'm sure the city is quite capable of hosting the outdoor championships just as well," said Putin.

Besides the Russian capital, cities in South Korea, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Australia, Sweden, Croatia and the United States are also vying to host the event.

The IAAF council is expected to announce the winning bid early next year.

The 2007 world championships will be held in Osaka, Japan, and the 2009 event will be in Berlin.

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