The event, which will take place from March 12 to 14, are expected to exceed the biggest gathering in in terms of participating nations in the 25-year history of these championships, first held at Paris in 1985, exceeding the previous record set two years ago in Valencia.
 
With 150 countries having entered athletes to compete at the Aspire Dome next week, the Doha 2010 World Indoors should surpass Valencia 2008 where 147 countries, also a participating record at the time, contested the event.

A total of 1,134 athletes and officials are also expected to attend what will be the IAAF’s most important event of the 2010 World Athletics Series.

A total of 374 male athletes, 283 female athletes and 477 officials have been accredited by the deadline last Monday (March 1).
 
For the fourth time, the IAAF World Indoor Championships will step outside Europe following the North American editions of Indianapolis in 1987 and Toronto in 1993 and the Asian stopover in Maebashi in 1999 and for the first time ever this competition will be held on Middle East soil.
 
On the individual front, the Russian pair of Yelena Isinabyeva in the Pole Vault and Tatyana Kotova in the Long Jump will be the most decorated athletes in the field with three World Indoor gold medals each and both having legitimate chances of winning a fourth title.

In the men’s events, world decathlon record holder Roman Sebrle, from the Czech Republic, and sprint hurdler Terrence Trammell, from the United States, both already have two World Indoor titles under their belts.