Athletics world championships: the eyes of the world on Budapest
For the first time, the World Outdoor Athletics Championships will be held in Central Europe. From 19-27 August 2023, Budapest will host the event, which will attract thousands of athletes and millions of spectators, and it is the third most popular global sporting event after the Olympics and the football World Cup, with a lot of big guns attending.
Preparations are in full swing for the 19th World Athletics Championships, which Budapest will be the first city in Central Europe to host, from 19 to 27 August. The Hungarian capital won the right to host the event at the 2018 meeting of the International Athletics Federation in Monte Carlo, and since then several sports facilities have been built, including a 35,000-seat stadium on the banks of the Danube, designed for athletics.
Could generate a revenue of HUF 130 billion (EUR 352 M)
Budapest has been preparing for the biggest sporting event of 2023 for five years, and in two months’ time the World Championships will officially kick off, with more than 2,500 athletes from 203 countries having entered so far. So far, 154,000 tickets have been sold and the organisers are expecting nearly one billion viewers worldwide. The cost is estimated at around HUF 70 billion, the bulk of which will be spent on television broadcasting, a communication campaign, the supply of athletes and technical staff, the 400,000 spectators and the prize money for the winners of the World Championships. However, independent expert analyses estimate that the event will generate significant direct and indirect revenues of up to HUF 130 billion (€352 million). World Cup participants and foreign fans could arrive in the hundreds of thousands and spend up to 200,000 nights in Budapest.
Youhuu mascot will cheer in 49 events
The event’s mascot, Youhuu, the Hungarian raccoon eagle, will cheer on athletes and spectators in 49 events, including street races, with the marathon being a highlight as it will take place in the city’s UNESCO World Heritage sites. The finals of the track events will take place in the evenings and spectators will be able to watch at least four finals each day. The final event of the World Championships will be the women’s 4 x 400m relay final.
Some real big names are attending
Although the final list of athletes will not be finalised until the World Championships, when injuries could still occur, five-time Jamaican 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is expected to be on the starting line in Budapest, as is the second fastest marathon runner of all time, Kelvin Kiptum, and women’s world record holder Brigid Kosgei. One of the biggest stars of athletics today, Swedish men’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis, could also be aiming for another world record in the Hungarian capital.
The main venue will be the new athletics stadium
The new 35,000-seat stadium on the banks of the Danube is specifically designed to host athletics events. During construction, nearly 100,000 cubic metres of soil were moved, thousands of tonnes of reinforcing steel and tens of thousands of cubic metres of concrete were used. A six-lane covered running track was built under the stands, as well as a 500-seat press box, a 400-seat press centre and a 110-seat press conference room. The stadium will be surrounded by 10 hectares of green area, which will also serve as a sports park and will be open to the public.
According to the plans, the impressive facility, which will be tested in July for the first time with the Hungarian championship, will be demolished after the World Championships in August, and a panoramic running track will be built on the upper level of the grandstand, which will be open to the public. The stadium, which will eventually be converted to accommodate 15,000 people, will be the main venue and training centre for Hungarian athletics.
