By a vote of 72-59, Lyon, France, beat Perth, Western Australia, as the host of the 2015 World Masters Athletics Championships. The vote was a personal loss for WMA President Stan Perkins, who is from Australia. A little after noon, delegates eliminated Poland as a bidder for 2015 worlds. Lyon and Perth had 48 and 47 votes, respectively on the first ballot. Runoff followed. Delegates at 10:15 were voting on whether to discuss change of year of WMA stadia championships before the bid presentations. Apparently Australia thinks its bid would be affected if meet is held in 2014 instead of 2015. The other bidders are Bydgoszcz, Poland, and Lyon, France. Perth on the west coast is the Aussie bid city. Delay is defeated, so Poland goes first. (Meanwhile, left screen for PowerPoints goes dead, so delegates are asked to shift seats to view righthand screen.)

WMA Secretary Winston Thomas laughs at tie midway through 2015 vote.

Polish bronze medal WMA decathlete delivers bid presentation. Speaking in English, he tells of 20,000-seat main stadium. Second track and warmup track are adjacent and “plenty of places for car parkings.” He pronounces city as BIDGE-goez. Aerial view shows dorms near main stadium. Says prices start at $14 a day. Gets laughs for accidentally referring to other rates as $17,000 a day.

Says public transit and shuttle buses (between Torun main stadium) will get athletes around. Says Poland expects to host 10,000 entrants as first WMA world meet in Eastern Europe, growing the masters movement in the process. “I’m 100 percent sure we are ready for such challenge,” he says.

Carroll DeWeese asks if Poland has 27-inch hurdles. Yes, he’s told. Distance between main stadiums is 40 kilometers, delegates are told.

Lyon is next pressenter, starting at almost 11 a.m. WMA President Stan Perkins says presentations and vote will take place before morning tea. Lefthand screen issue is now resolved.

Lyon rep says his delegation includes 1984 Olympic pole vault champion. Video is shown, mainly fancy travelogue with jazzy music and focusing on tourism, food, culture, architecture.

Rep says Lyon just hosted World Youth Championships, and visa issues were not a problem. Says lodging ranges up from $24 a day and up. Free parking at venues. Says transit will be free, and shuttles ilk be offered between three main stadiums. Indoor track also available for practice. Second stadium is in Bron, with track renovated in 2012. Chassieu has third stadium, track renovated in 2009.

He shows 360 view of main stadium, and points out race walk course as perfectly flat. Cross country events can be seen from main stadium.

Pierre Quinon, speaking in French, says he comes back to California with special emotion as L.A. Games gold medalist. First time speaking in front of the masters. Very impressed with athletes. Saw WR in M50 vault, jokes that he should take up pole vaulting himself. He comes from Lyon, where he was born.

French rep says meet would be held in late July and early August. Answers questions, says main track is Mondo and seating at main stadium is 1,500′ with shade on one side. Perkins says time is up, and presentation ends at 11:22 a.m.

Gary Snyder of five-member USA delegation says they met for an hour last night and decided to vote as a bloc for Lyon, saying Perth would be too expensive to get to and it’s October dates a problem for athletes with academic jobs.

Perth is final presenter. Says Perth hosts 15 international events a year, and has hosted world rugby and triathlon championships. Uses PowerPoint. Says meet would be held October 14-25. Says majority of stadiums are close to each other and athletes can walk between venues. Stadium 1 is 200 meters from Stadium 2, he says. All three stadiums have Mondo tracks. Spending most time on quality of facilities.

Says “recovery pool” will be available to athletes near main stadium. Hotels low as $35 a night. High-end hotels also available, he notes. Visa issues will be dealt with “as easily as possible.”

Touts Kings Park and surfing at local beaches, swimming with dolphins and snorkeling. Then shows video of Perth, “brilliant blue skies and beaches are envy of the world.” Video is more track-centric than other bidders. Promises “best ever world masters athletics championships.”

Answers questions: promises 27-inch hurdles. Says distance from main stadium to third stadium is a half-hour.

Poland video is reshown on both screens, but without audio.

Britain’s Winston Thomas wipes off whiteboard in prep for outdoor meet voting, which begins at 11:50 a.m.

Perkins starts vote, using blue paper ballots, and noting that a city has to have 50 percent to win on first ballot. Otherwise, bottom placer will drop out and a second ballot will pit the top two. Now 132 voting delegates, we are told.