As soon as this year's World Athletics Championships in the United States ended, the president of the international association, Sebastian Coe, already spoke about the 2023 World Championships, which will be held in Budapest. In an exclusive interview given to Nemzeti Sport, the sports manager stated that he expects Hungary to have the best WC ever.
Sebastian Coe symbolically handed over the baton to Miklós Gyulai, the president of the Hungarian Athletics Association, at the end of the World Cup in Eugene, thus indicating that the world of athletics is now paying attention to Hungary, and the countdown to next year's World Cup in Budapest has begun.
Under normal circumstances, of course, the World Athletics Championships would not be held two years in a row, but the coronavirus epidemic that took hold in 2020 changed the sports calendars.
"I think it's great that we're already holding another world championship in a year, but this period holds plenty of challenges, especially for the athletes," Sebastian Coe told National Sports . – In the next six or seven years, athletics will occupy a central place in the sports calendar, especially in the northern hemisphere, which is also the most broadcasted part of it. At the same time, the athletes also have to make difficult decisions, for example, what rhythm they will prepare for in the coming years, and their coaches have to find a balance due to the busy calendar if they do not want their students to burn out.
Coe revealed that he has been to Hungary three or four times so far, the last time he paid his respects at the World Water Championships in Budapest in June. And he also shared a behind-the-scenes secret: he is the first person to run in the central venue of next year's Athletics World Cup, which is still under construction, in the National Athletic Stadium.
- On the one hand, the Aquatics World Cup gave me the opportunity to see how another sport conducts its World Cup, and on the other hand, to discuss further details with the organizing committee - said Coe. – I am satisfied with the schedule and the progress, formally I was probably the first person who could run in the new stadium, and although the construction is still going on, it will be fantastic, and the legacy of the tournament is very important.
The president of the international association praised Hungary and expects a lot from the World Cup in Budapest. As he said, he sees the best World Cup ever before him:
- Europe has always been one of the strongest bastions of athletics, the sport is loved on the continent, including, for example, in Hungary, which has a very significant sporting history. You have already organized many big sports events and athletics competitions, Budapest is a beautiful city, there are many advantages to hosting it there.
I hope that you will organize the best World Cup so far, because I always had in mind that the next World Cup should be better than the previous one, raise the bar higher. This was the case in Doha after London, then in Eugene, and it will be the same in Budapest. The World Championship is always a reference point for development, just as the athletes themselves want to get better from competition to competition.
Photo: Hungarian Athletics Association
You can hear that they are planning to reform and shorten the ten-day running of the World Cup. Coe clarified that even if there is such a decision, it will certainly not affect the 2023 Budapest event.
- This will definitely not affect Budapest, maybe the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo - declared Coe. – We don't throw away our history, we don't want to "cannibalize" the competition, but as president I have to review everything again and again, I have to be aware of all the circumstances, I have to know who has what needs. For the audience, young people, athletes, TV companies, and I think ten days is a lot of time in light of the way and where the world, the flow of information and entertainment is changing. Catering is very important and you will have the advantage of having the World Cup in a big city, a cultural center where people can do a lot of things when they are not watching athletics. That's why I'm thinking about the length of the competition, because the morning programs and the lack of them definitely have to be varied.
The full interview can be found on the National Sports website.
In our opening photo: Sebastian Coe symbolically handed over the baton to Miklós Gyulai at the end of the World Cup in Eugene (Photo: Facebook / Hungarian Athletics Association / Jay Bendlin)
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
