BUDAPEST: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has praised the big attendance and good atmosphere at the world championships which end later on Sunday, reported dpa news agency.
“I can’t recall a better atmosphere at a world championships. It was a really fantastic world championship,” he said.
Coe echoed similar praise from a range of athletes during the nine-day championships in the streets of Budapest and the newly-built stadium on the banks of the Danube.
Coe also praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his support of the event. Orban visited the championships last Sunday which coincided with Hungary’s national holiday.
Organisers said that 400,000 tickets were sold for the world, 95 per cent of the overall number available.
Coe said that he also met with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach who had visited the championships of the key Olympic sport for the final days.
He did not go into details, saying only they discussed the challenges climate change and the sports calendar pose.
Coe and Bach share vastly different views on Russia, with World Athletics keeping them banned after the invasion of Ukraine while the IOC has recommended allowing them to compete as neutrals.
Bach’s IOC mandate ends in 2025, and Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500m champion and chief organizer of the London 2012 Games, is seen as a potential successor. Coe was elected for a third and final term until 2027 as World Athletics president ahead of the world.– BERNAMA-dpa
