London Calling?

For London and Doha, Qatar, the prospect of being named the host city for the 2017 IAAF World Championships has taken a leap forward as the officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations are holding 'on-the-ground' inspections this week.

The visit to London came of the heels of the news that the newly-installed track at the Olympic stadium will remain for the next 125 years, despite the wishes (and legal action) of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which wanted to rip up the track after the Olympic Games next summer. "Tottenham's legal action now is completely pointless," said sports minister Hugh Robertson.

That was music to the ears of the IAAF, which will decide on the 2017 host at a meeting of the IAAF Council in Monaco on Nov. 11. "The city sells itself. It is one that I have always enjoyed being in," IAAF senior vice-president Bob Hersh told the BBC."The stadium is world-class and we're pleased with the passion and commitment of the people involved in this bid."

Photos of the new track can be seen here as Hannah England, runner up to Jenny Simpson in the 1,500m run at the Worlds in Daegu, South Korea, little more than a month ago, was the first athlete to give it a test run. 'It feels really really fast — even today in just getting a jog on it you can tell it is going to be really fast," she said following her jaunt. "It is quite a sophisticated surface by Mondo who really make the best tracks in the world. These are the tracks that you see world records created on by people like Usain Bolt."

In Doha, the first stop for IAAF officials will be Kahlifa Stadium, a 40,000-seat venue which is set for refurbishment in 2016. Local officials are promising that it will be, technologically, among the world's most advanced stadiums.

One official was quoted in the Peninsula as saying, "As part of the refurbishment plans for the 2017 Championships, a giant panoramic screen will be installed across the stadium allowing fans to experience the action in a new way. Imagine the 100m sprint flashing across the giant screen in one single view — it will be like never before."

If Doha gets the bid, there will be something else like never before — the heat. Summer temperatures in Qatar average above 100 and hit as high as 118 in September last year. That is seen as a huge hurdle to overcome in the Doha bid.

The 2013 Worlds will take place in Moscow, followed by Beijing in 2015. So where exactly does this leave diehard U.S. track fans? In line for a new passport photo, perhaps for some time to come. By the time the 2017 Championships are contested, it will mean that none of 16 IAAF World Championships will have taken place in the United States (and only one in North America — Edmonton in 2001).

"We just don't have the wherewithal, starting with the fact that there is no stadium that exists that could accommodate it," Hersh told The Associated Press. "It's obviously something I would love to do and USA Track and Field would love to do. The IAAF would love to have us host one."

Hersh, a native New Yorker, became the world governing body's No. 2 administrator in September.