The 2021 World Track and Field Championships will be in Eugene, Ore., the first time the event will be held in the U.S. in its 18th edition.
The IAAF, track and field’s international governing body, announced the decision before a formal bidding process could take place. It said Eugene made a presentation in recent months.
On Nov. 18, Eugene lost in bidding for the 2019 World Championships to Doha, Qatar.
“Council’s decision [Thursday] was taken in order to grant the sport’s access to one of the most historically successful countries in athletics as well as the most powerful economy in the world,” the IAAF said in a press release.
The IAAF said it last awarded a Worlds to a city without bidding for 2007, when Osaka, Japan, hosted.
The U.S. has won more medals and gold medals than any other nation in World Championships history dating to 1983. The World Championships are held in odd-numbered years and will be in Beijing this August.
Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, held the last two U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials and will do so again in 2016.
Here’s Eugene’s bid video presented to the IAAF in its failed attempt to get the 2019 World Championships (24:34 mark):