By IANS,
Beijing : The 2012 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships to be held from March 9 to 11 in Istanbul will become the biggest gathering in terms of participating member federations, the world athletics governing body IAAF confirmed.
“With 172 IAAF national member federations having entered athletes to compete at the Atakov Arena next week, Istanbul 2012 should surpass Valencia 2008 where 147 countries, also a participating record at the time, contested the event,” IAAF was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
A total of 1,299 athletes and officials are expected to attend the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The biennial tournament attracted 142 member federations for their last edition in Doha 2010.