London will bid for 2017 world athletics championships

The city will be the first in the running to host the biennial event and a formal bid must be submitted to the International Association of Athletics Federations by 1 September. This will be followed by an evaluation of the facilities and a bid presentation, with a decision coming in November.

UKA will work alongside the Department of Culture Media and Sport, as well as the Mayor of London and UK Sport to formulate the bid and supporting budget. The championships has the potential to bring an economic boost to the city of 100 million and UKA chairman Ed Warner believes it is a massive opportunity for the UK.

"The World Athletics Championships is the greatest sporting event never staged in the UK and we're committed to changing that," said Warner.

"Athletics is a hugely popular sport in this country and I'm confident we can stage an outstanding championships in front of a sell-out, knowledgeable crowd."

Beijing will host the 2015 championships following their successful staging of the Olympics back in 2008 and now London is intending to follow the same pattern.

The majority of facilities required to host the championships will already be in place following next year's Olympics and the main athletics arena will be a major part of the bid following the decision for West Ham to become the tenants after the Games.

Had Spurs moved into the stadium, the running track was to be removed and the opportunity to host another major athletics event in Britain would have disappeared.