Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, has hailed the “electric and addictive atmosphere” in Budapest and says it shows the city is ready to host the Olympics. “I can’t remember a better atmosphere at a world championships,” he said. “These have been a truly great championships.”
Speaking on the final day of the World Athletics Championships, Lord Coe also controversially thanked Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, for his support, and said the event had been such a success that more than 95% of tickets had been sold.
“This is a country that has a long-term ambition for sport, and sport that goes way beyond nine days of competition,” Coe said. “If you are going to go into a country, it is quite sensible to find or pick a prime minister that really does get sport. And in Viktor Orban we couldn’t have a better supporter at a local and national level.
“This is an ambitious city, this is an ambitious country, and I have no reason to doubt they would put up a very credible bid if it was entertained by the International Olympic Committee.”
Coe said he was also hugely encouraged by rising global TV audiences, with initial analysis showing that people were also watching for 25% to 30% longer. However when asked for his favourite moment of the championships, he was more parochial.
“I have to say Josh Kerr’s win in the 1500m,” Coe said of the surprise vctory over Jakob Ingebrigtsen. “Yes, that’s a bit local. And I am sure it won’t go down a huge heap in Norway. But I was really pleased for Josh. It was a racer’s 1500m.”
Coe also credited the performances of the US gold medal sprinter Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, calling them: “Absolute rock stars, and they both have come through in the most powerful way.”
However he again hinted that some events would be scrapped if they were not popular. “We have to make sure that we are investing in events that people really want to watch,” Coe said. “There’s still too much assessment and decisions being made on a sort of misplaced nostalgia. When we make those decisions, we have to be able to stand behind the data that says, sadly, some of these are not capturing the imagination.”
