INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field has formally submitted to the IAAF a bid to host the 2016 World Indoor Championships, it announced Monday.

TrackTown USA, Inc., would serve as local organizing committee for the 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics, which would be held in March, 2016, in Portland, Ore. The United States hosted the first IAAF World Indoor Championships in 1987, in Indianapolis. More than 600 athletes from up to 212 countries are expected to compete in 2016.

The bid application calls for the three-day meet to be held at the Oregon Convention Center in the city of Portland. A new 200-meter IAAF-certified track would be built and then repurposed afterward as a legacy of the event.

“As a member of the IAAF family, USATF considers it an honor as well as a duty to try to bring a world championship event back to U.S. soil,” USATF CEO Max Siegel said. “Having hosted two very successful Olympic Trials in 2008 and 2012, TrackTown USA has shown itself to be the premier host of world-class track events in this country. We look forward to presenting the bid and continuing to elevate the off-track profile of the United States in the international sports world.”

At the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Turkey, Team USA won a record 10 gold medals, adding three silver and five bronze. World Indoor gold-medal winners Ashton Eaton, Sanya Richards-Ross, Brittney Reese and Aries Merritt went on to win gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In addition to hosting the last two Olympic Trials, TrackTown USA also serves as local organizing committee for the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, to be contested this July in Eugene, Ore., and the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

 “We want to partner with USA Track & Field and the IAAF in bringing our sport to a new generation of athletes and fans,” said Vin Lananna, president of TrackTown USA, Inc. “Portland is a young, vibrant and beautiful city with a culture that fosters innovation and embraces active lifestyles. We believe the city of Portland, the state of Oregon and the entire U.S. would embrace the athletes, officials and media from around the world.”

USATF and TrackTown USA will present the bid to the IAAF in person on November 15 in Monaco.

For more information on USA Track & Field, visit www.usatf.org

For more information on TrackTown USA, visit www.gotracktownusa.com