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Daegu - Athletics' governing body, the IAAF, has donated $250 000 to the Japanese federation to "assist the rebuilding of their shattered society" following the devastating March tsunami.
IAAF president Lamine Diack visited sponsors in Japan just days after the tsunami hit on March 11 "in order to offer in person the IAAF's sympathy, condolences and support at the nation’s hour of need", the body said.
Diack "reinforced that commitment and support for the Japanese people" when presenting the gift to Yohei Kono, president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations and Japan's IAAF council member Katsuyuki Tanaka.
"In March, only a few days after the tsunami hit, I was in Tokyo visiting our partners," Diack said.
"I had been expecting the visit would have to be postponed having seen on television the scale of the disaster which had happened but I decided that it was best to go and give my support.
"What I saw was a lesson for us all, to see a country which had been through such a disaster continue to live and determinedly get on with daily life.
"I was so moved that when I returned I was determined that the IAAF should contribute some help to Japan, and therefore I'm delighted to present this cheque of $250 000 from the IAAF to JAAF."
JAAF president Kono said the money would be "used to help the athletics community in our country rebuild as a whole".
"It will help establish athletics competitions in the areas of Japan which have most suffered by the tragedy. It will also directly help elementary school children" and youth athletics in Japan.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11 claimed more than 20 000 lives and sparked the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.
