The IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015, will get under way in exactly two weeks' time and final entry figures confirm that it will be the biggest international athletics event to be held in South America.

The Colombian city is set to welcome 1,237 athletes from 153 countries from July 15-19.

Previously, the largest IAAF track and field championships to be held in South America was the 2000 IAAF World Junior Championships, where 1,122 athletes from 151 countries competed.

The IAAF World Youth Champion-ships is one of the leading events in the IAAF's global competition programme, providing a platform for the world's leading athletes under the age of 18 to excel.

It will be the first time that there has been a South American host for the IAAF World Youth Championships, which were inaugurated in 1999.