The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic events, some of which were included as exhibition events. Much of the event was played in extremely heavy rainfall. Background Bidding The original winning bid for the competition was for London but the cost to build the required stadium at Picketts Lock and host the event was deemed too expensive by the government. UK Athletics suggested to move the host city to Sheffield (using Don Valley Stadium), but the IAAF stated that having London as the host city was central to their winning the bid. The championships bidding process was reopened as a result. The United Kingdom's withdrawal as host was the first case for a major sporting event in a developed country since Denver's withdrawal as host of the 1976 Winter Olympics. Helsinki was considered by many to be the outsider in the race to host the games with rival bids being presented by Berlin in Germany; Brussels in Belgium, Budapest in Hungary, Moscow in Russia and Rome in Italy. Opening ceremony Apocalyptica and Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the event over a heavy rainfall. Geir Rönning, Finland's Eurovision Song Contest 2005 entrant, sang "Victory" the official song of the 2005 IAAF World Championships. Events With the addition of the women's 3000 metres steeplechase to the schedule, that year's program of events was closer to parity for women and men. With the exception of the 50 km walk the women competed in practically the same events as the men. Two differences remaining from before, though, were the short hurdles race (100 metres for women vs. 110 metres for men), and the multi-event competition (heptathlon for women vs. decathlon for men). Since the first World Championships in Helsinki 1983, seven new events have been added for women: 10000 metres, introduced in 1987 5000 metres, replaced 3000 metres in 1995 triple jump, introduced in 1993 20 km walk introduced in 1999, replaced 10 km walk that first appeared in 1987 pole vault, introduced in 1999 hammer throw, introduced in 1999 3000 metres steeplechase, introduced in 2005 Drug testing The IAAF conducted their largest ever anti-doping program at an athletics