Glasgow to host 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Lynsey Sharp in action at Glasgow's Emirates Arena which will host the 2019 European Indoor Athletics Championships. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

The city’s Emirates Arena will stage the biennial event after Glasgow beat off competition from Apeldoorn in Holland, Belarus’ capital Minsk and Torun in Poland.

Glasgow received nine votes, Torun six and Apeldoorn one in the vote by the European Athletics Council.

Scotland’s 800 metres runner Lynsey Sharp said: “This is great news for Glasgow, for athletics in the UK in general and Scotland in particular.

“I’m sure it will be an amazing championships that athletes and the community will be proud to be part of. Competing in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 was a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to compete on home turf again. Scotland has proved that we can host great major athletics events and I’m confident that 2019 will be the best ever European Indoor Championships.”

More than 600 athletes from the 50 countries are expected to participate in the three-day event, making it one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held in Glasgow.

The city previously hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Kelvin Hall in 1990. More recently it was staged in Birmingham in 2007.

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