Athletes, Fans of Athletics, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to bid you a warm welcome to Croatia's capital and the 2009 IAAF Zagreb Grand Prix – Hanzek, as we locally call it – one of our city's sporting events, which has been successful for many years.

The City of Zagreb has supported the organization of this year's Meeting just like all before, trying to secure all necessary conditions for the athletes to achieve top results, which the Zagreb Meeting is well-known for.

I hope that this year we will enjoy another IAAF Grand Prix and its unique atmosphere together again.

Best regards and until soon at the athletics stadium.

Milan Bandic
Mayor of the City of Zagreb