The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Tuesday (March 27) selected the Korean city of Daegu as the host of the 2011 World Championships.

Daegu will be the third Asian city to host the biennial championships after Japan's Tokyo in 1991 and Osaka this year. Berlin, Germany, will host the championships in 2009.

Daegu, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul and the fourth-largest city in Korea, successfully hosted the Summer Universiad in 2003 and the football World Cup matches in 2002, which were co-hosted by Korea and Japan.

Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, announced that the world governing body of sports gave the nod to Daegu after the IAAF held an executive board meeting at a Mombasa, Kenya, hotel.

Daegu competed with Brisbane, Australia, and Moscow, Russia, to host the prestigious competition. The IAAF awarded the 2013 world championships to Moscow.

With the decision, Korea became the seventh country to host three events as large as the Summer Olympic Games, the football World Cup and the World Championships in Athletics. The other six nations to have done so are Italy, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Spain and France.

Korea hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988 before co-hosting the football World Cup in 2002.

The main venue, the Daegu World Cup Stadium holding 66,000 seats, was praised as a superb facility by the on-site IAAF inspection team last month.

"Our prayers were answered," said Yoo Chong-ha, president of the Daegu Bid Committee after the decision. "I still can't believe it. I felt we made it when an executive member took my hand firmly after the final presentation."

"With enthusiastic support from the people in Daegu during the on-site inspection last month, I believed we could do it. Their endeavor to host the competition may have given a huge impression to voting members."

During the last presentation to the IAAF's executive members, Daegu offered a free package including accommodations and a training field for all officials and athletes from three weeks before the opening of the games to three days after the closing of the games.

They promised to donate $1.5 million for a program for the IAAF's school for athletes, and set up a $3 million fund to develop Korean athletes before increasing the seed money to $10 million later.

"I would like to thank Daegu citizens for their full support and the national government for their support for Daegu," said Daegu Mayor Kim Bum-il. "It will be a good opportunity for Daegu to jump into becoming a world-class city. It is a victory both for Daegu and Korea.

"As I promised, I will do my utmost to develop Korean athletics and boost its popularity."

With the decision, Daegu will begin building an apartment town for athletes and a broadcasting center for the media. They will also cooperate with various sports associations to boost the popularity of sports.

Daegu Mayor Kim Bum-il also delivered the intention of a top level company in Korea to sponsor the championships in a partnership with the IAAF during the presentation, a Daegu bid committee official said.