Toyota Motor Corporation has announced recently that it would be providing a total of 220 vehicles of which will include 134 Prius Hybrid passenger vehicles. These Toyota vehicles are to be used as official cars for the 11th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Athletics Osaka 2007 (Osaka 2007) which will run from August 25 through September 2, 2007 in Osaka, Japan.
Toyota the producer of durable and high quality is the official automotive partner for the Osaka 2007. Toyota has also previously become the official partners for the 2003 Championships in Paris and the 2005 Championships in Helsinki. For this year's Osaka Championship, Toyota will be helping to promote the IAAF's environmentally considerate Green Project by means of providing vehicles that have less damaging impact on the environment.
Aside from the Prius, other vehicles such as the FCHV-BUS (a fuel-cell hybrid vehicle bus), the Alphard Hybrid minivan, and the Dyna light-duty hybrid truck are to be provided by Toyota. Aside from the Osaka 2007 Championship, Toyota is also scheduled to supply the vehicles such as Welcab vehicles (especially those equipped vehicles) for use by those competitors in wheelchairs. These vehicles are to be employed for a variety of uses like for instance serving as the lead vehicle or the media vehicle for men and women's marathons plus transport athletes and officials.
For this year's championships, as a way of showing support to the children who will take on the responsibilities of the next generation, Toyota will give 900 people with free tickets to come and witness the performances of some of the world's top athletes. For those interested the ticket applications will be accepted starting July 20 through August 6, 2007.
The applications may either be submitted online or by postcard and in the event that the number of applicants exceeds the number of tickets, a draw will be held to select ticket recipients.
The Green Project was launched by the IAAF starting with the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics with the aim of contributing to environmental conservation. The objectives of the project include implementing measures that would help in reducing environmental impact and at the same time collect donations which are to be used for afforestation initiatives. The IAAF also plans to announce more details of the said project soon.
Details of the Osaka 2007
Event: 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Osaka 2007 (Osaka 2007)
Time: August 25 - September 2 (nine days)
Venue: Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan
Sponsor: International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
Scale of event: Countries/regions: 212
Athletes/officials: 3,200 (expected)
Number of events: 24 for men, 23 for women
Event website:
Other: The first World Championships in Athletics was held in Helsinki, Finland in 1983. The event is held every two years. This is the second time the event has been held in Japan; the first was the 1991 Tokyo Championships held 16 years ago.
