The president of the International Athletics Association (WA), who spoke about this at the end of the World Championships on Sunday in the capital, encourages Hungary to apply for the Olympics.

Sebastian Coe is satisfied with the World Championships in Budapest in all respects, and considers Hungary capable of hosting an Olympics, which is why Sebastian Coe encourages the country to bid for the summer games.

At the last international press conference held before the program of the World Cup on Sunday evening, State Secretary for Sports Ádám Schmidt first stated that he is confident that the many sports diplomats and sports leaders who came to the World Cup and personally experienced its quality will support the Hungarian aspirations for a in the event of an Olympic application.

"Obviously, Sebastian Coe's personal charm also contributed to the fact that the international sports leadership was represented here in an amazing number and quality at the World Athletics Championships. We trust that they also believe that a miracle has taken place here for nine days and we are very confident that if these sports leaders find themselves in a situation where they will be able to decide on the location of the next Olympics, then it will float in front of their eyes and they would be happy to return To Hungary," said Ádám Schmidt.

Sebastian Coe was clear about the issue of organizing the Olympics in Hungary. "I can speak on behalf of the International Association of Athletics Federations and I think that of course he can. We have seen the highest level of athletics competition here in recent days," answered a journalist's question by the British president of WA, who is now starting his last four-year term at the head of the association.

"This is an ambitious city, an ambitious country. It was an excellent host for the World Cup and I'm sure it would make an impressive application, so yes, I encourage the country to apply."

Before the Olympic debate, Coe stated that WA members will leave Budapest happy. For him, the World Cup was also important and special because the Hungarian capital was the first venue to be awarded the World Cup during his presidency.

Coe feels that they managed to raise the World Cup to a new level and managed to introduce great innovations, thus creating a kind of legacy for future World Cups. Among the innovations usually implemented from the ideas of the Hungarian organizers, he singled out the medal plaza, as he said, with this "the genie has been released from the bottle" and, according to him, it can no longer be considered that the awards are handed over in the old way, in the stadium, in many cases in front of empty stands. medals for the podium finishers.

"I can't remember a World Cup with a better atmosphere than this one," said Coe, for whom the most important thing was that the stands were full. He pointed out that British, German, American, French and Spanish fans bought the most tickets among foreigners, and more than half a billion people watched the first half of the World Cup on television.

The head of the WA also said that they were able to establish a close relationship with the organizers and the Hungarian government, the Prime Minister and the city administration.

State Secretary Ádám Schmidt also spoke enthusiastically about the fans filling the stadium and singled out the Hungarian spectators.

"I would like to say thank you and I am grateful that so many Hungarian people came out and cheered. They brought a magical atmosphere to this facility and I think they impressed everyone again," the state secretary praised the domestic viewers. "It was a great feeling to experience that we achieved what we announced before the World Cup, that our goal with this World Cup is to make every Hungarian proud of this competition."

Balázs Németh, Budapest 2023 Nzrt, the organizer of the world championship. its CEO said his team was very tired but very happy. He noted that nine days ago he asked everyone to enjoy the show. He promised fun and memorable events and now he can say that the World Cup could not have been better, he added.

"This was the biggest, most successful, most entertaining and best sports event in the history of Hungary. We sold more than four hundred thousand tickets to fans in 120 countries. Almost 95 percent of the tickets were sold," said Balázs Németh, who said that one of the most important things was that the spectators left the stadium with a smile on their faces every day.

MTI