The WMA2012 Indoor Championships from 3 to 8 April in Jyväskylä will play host to a celebration of fair play. The championships are participating in the international challenge campaign for fair play in sporting events organised in Finland. To honour the fair happenings, golden batons will also be used in the relays in the championships.
The WMA2012 Indoor Championships is the largest, most international athletics championship event in 2012 and will take place in Jyväskylä. In addition to traditional indoor events, it also includes outdoor throwing events, long-distance track event races and racewalking. A total of 3,000 athletes representing 66 different countries are expected to participate in the championships.
The challenge of fair play, with its symbolic gold baton, is arriving in Jyväskylä from the European Airgun Championships, which took place in February.
– For us representatives of shooting sports it was an honour to accept the challenge of clean sport and pass along this important message. In February, we held a fantastic clean sporting event in Heinola. I hope that the fair spirit and the commitment to ethical sports will be on display as positively and prominently now in Jyväskylä, says Risto Aarrekivi, Secretary General of the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation.
– We feel the challenge is a pleasure to take on. World Masters have wisdom, and we will do all we can to ensure a successful, championship event. At our very international event, the message of clean sport also reaches from Finland outward to the rest of the world, says Vesa Lappalainen, Secretary General of the Finnish World Masters Athletics Federation.
The fair play challenge campaign for international sports events organised in Finland is a part of the Clean Win programme. The golden baton challenges its receiver to promote clean sport and to commit to its values. The golden baton has already travelled around in Finland at the European Youth Olympic festival in 2009, the Floorball World Championships 2010, the World Synchronized Skating Championships and the Enduro World Championships in 2011 and European Airgun Championships in 2012.
The Clean Win programme information desk will be on-site in Jyväskylä on Thursday 5 April and Friday 6 April from 12 to 5 p.m. At the information desk you can sign the grand petition on behalf of clean sport and test how well you recognise the brilliant sporting stars of the Clean Win programme. There will also be a picture stand at the information desk, where athletes awarded at the championships will sign their names on behalf of clean sport.
The Finnish Antidoping Agency’s and Fazer’s Clean Win programme was launched in May 2008. It honours clean athletes and the values of fair play, putting the spotlight on athletes who play ethically, respecting their sport, their competitors and themselves. This programme invites Finnish sports fans, sporting organisations, the friends and relatives of athletes and athletes themselves to get involved in fair play. You can participate in the programme’s petition on behalf of clean sport at http://www.puhtaastiparas.fi/.
For further details, please contact:
Susanna Sokka
FINADA – Information Manager
Mobile +358 (0)40 740 7477
Vesa Lappalainen
Finnish World Masters Athletics Federation – Secretary General
Mobile +358 (0)40 820 4730
Risto Aarrekivi
Finnish Shooting Sport Federation – Secretary General
Mobile +358 (0)40 774 6950
Internet: wma2012.jyvaskyla.fi