Shanghai to host 2011 swimming worlds

MELBOURNE, Australia _ China will stage yet another major world sporting event, with Shanghai winning the right to hold the 2011 world swimming championships.

Shanghai, which hosted last year's short course world championships, beat out Doha, Qatar, to hold the 14th edition of the swimming worlds. FINA announced the decision Saturday.

It is the first time a Chinese city will host a world swimming championships, and the second time for an Asian host. Japan hosted the 2001 championships in Fukuoka.

The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing.

Doha, which has also announced plans to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, was the venue for the 2006 Asian Games.

"I would like to thank the two bidders," FINA president Mustapha Larfaoui said at Rod Laver Arena, the main venue for the ongoing world swimming championships. "They were both very, very good presentations."

The announcement of Shanghai's winning bid was met by loud applause from the many Chinese officials and media on hand for the host city announcement.

The 2009 world swimming championships will be held in Rome, the second time the Italian capital has hosted the event.