The UK has welcomed the world to some of the biggest and most successful events of recent times.

The2002 Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester, are widely considered to have set new standards in both athletic excellence and organisational expertise.

More than 3,600 athletes from 72 countries competed in front of 900,000 spectators at the purpose-built 38,000-seat stadium. Nearly 10 million Britons tuned in to watch coverage of the closing ceremony alone.

In March 2003, Birmingham hosted what was acclaimed as one of the finest IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships. A total of 618 athletes from 145 countries competed in front of a sell-out, passionate crowd of 20,000 and were watched by a global television audience of 168 million viewers in 141 countries.

IAAF General Secretary Istvan Gyulai said: "I have seen all the world championships, indoor and outdoors, and we have never experienced more support from the host city. This was an event for the whole community and this is a key ingredient for success."

In the past decade the UK has also welcomed everything from the World Badminton Championships to the World Finn Sailing Championships. In addition, football's Euro 96 and both the cricket and rugby World Cups have been successfully staged, using Wembley, Lord's Cricket Ground and the Millennium Stadium.

And the list of world-famous annual or regular events, and venues, is almost endless: Badminton, the Belfry and Henley, to name but a few; Aintree, Ascot, Silverstone and Wimbledon.

Highlights to come include the World Junior Sailing Championships, at Weymouth and Portland, and the World Rowing Championships, at Eton Dorney, both in 2006. Both will be venues in 2012.

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