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Dire in Doha: world championships 'catastrophe' leaves athletics reeling
The Guardian(the World Track & Field Championships)
Moments after the greatest 10.83 seconds of her life, Dina Asher‑Smith grabbed a union flag from her mother, Julie, and began a lap of honour to celebrate her world championship 100m silver medal. But as she trotted round the 40,000‑seat Khalifa International Stadium all that greeted her were banks of empty seats and a ghostly silence.
At a stretch there were 1,000 people watching, and most of them were journalists tapping away to deadline. As Asher-Smith’s mother later tweeted, she has seen more spectators at England Athletics’ age group championships in Bedford.
The International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body, has promised to release a statement on Monday addressing the dismal crowds. But nothing it can say can hide that these world championships have been a PR disaster for the sport, for its president Seb Coe, and for Qatar.
When Doha first bid for the event in 2011 it promised it would “ensure that the atmosphere surrounding the world championships will be fantastic”. That was a pledge always built on sand. But at least it was made several years ago. Coe hoped it would be “spectacular” last week. Instead it has killed the momentum for track and field that was built at the London 2017 world championships, watched by 750,000 in the flesh and millions on television.
The Guardian broke the news last week that only 50,000 tickets had been sold across the 10 days of competition in Doha, and that migrant workers from Africa and India with free tickets were being transported in to bolster crowds. They have come, at times. But with no distance finals on Sunday the Kenyans and Ethiopians who have given some semblance of an atmosphere stayed away and all we heard was the sound of silence.
At a stretch there were 1,000 people watching, and most of them were journalists tapping away to deadline. As Asher-Smith’s mother later tweeted, she has seen more spectators at England Athletics’ age group championships in Bedford.
The International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body, has promised to release a statement on Monday addressing the dismal crowds. But nothing it can say can hide that these world championships have been a PR disaster for the sport, for its president Seb Coe, and for Qatar.
When Doha first bid for the event in 2011 it promised it would “ensure that the atmosphere surrounding the world championships will be fantastic”. That was a pledge always built on sand. But at least it was made several years ago. Coe hoped it would be “spectacular” last week. Instead it has killed the momentum for track and field that was built at the London 2017 world championships, watched by 750,000 in the flesh and millions on television.
The Guardian broke the news last week that only 50,000 tickets had been sold across the 10 days of competition in Doha, and that migrant workers from Africa and India with free tickets were being transported in to bolster crowds. They have come, at times. But with no distance finals on Sunday the Kenyans and Ethiopians who have given some semblance of an atmosphere stayed away and all we heard was the sound of silence.
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