Athletics-Ex-runner Coe enthralled by field-event dramas

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe hailed the Budapest World Championships as a success on every level on Sunday, praising the host city, the new stadium, the fans and appreciating some "jaw-dropping performances". The nine-day event ends later on Sunday having seen good, enthusiastic crowds, despite a desperate shortage of competitive Hungarian athletes, and a succession of dramatic nights, not least in the field events.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe hailed the Budapest World Championships as a success on every level on Sunday, praising the host city, the new stadium, the fans and appreciating some "jaw-dropping performances".

The nine-day event ends later on Sunday having seen good, enthusiastic crowds, despite a desperate shortage of competitive Hungarian athletes, and a succession of dramatic nights, not least in the field events. "You have to go back a few years to remember a better atmosphere than we've seen here," Coe told a news conference.

"The stadium is great, the whole branding of the city has been great - you absolutely knew this event was happening - and these championships have had innovation and legacy embedded from the very outset." At the opening of the event Coe said that, unusually for him as a double Olympic 1,500m champion, he was looking forward most to the field events.

It proved to be a prescient view as a series of remarkable late turnarounds in both discus finals, the women's triple jump and javelin and the men's hammer, where the host nation won its only medal, had the crowd gasping. "We've witnessed jaw-dropping, nail-biting competitions," Coe said. "In the field events 13 athletes achieved their best performance in the final round and five of them earned a gold medal with that."

Coe also welcomed the efforts of American duo Noah Lyles, winner of the sprint double and 4x100m relay, and Sha'Carri Richardson, who marked her first global competition with gold in the 100m and relay and bronze in the 200m. "They were magnesium moments," said Coe, who added that away from the high-profile sprints he would continue to look for ways for the sport to "remain relevant" and that some disciplines might have to go if proper research, rather than "misplaced nostalgia", showed that there was minimal fan interest.

Budapest followed Eugene last year, which was delayed by COVID and with Tokyo the next host in 2027 and the Paris Olympics next year, Coe said that with four global showcase events in four years it was important to keep his sport "relevant" to an ever-changing viewership and fanbase. "As a sport we do need to make sure that every year we have something that gets people watching," he said.

France, host of the Olympics, has failed to collect a medal going into the final session and, in utter contrast to the first World Championships 40 years ago, so has Germany. In 1983 East Germany topped the table with 10 golds and 22 in all and West Germany were fifth with two golds and eight medals.

With seven events remaining, the United States are the runaway leaders with 11 golds, 27 medals in all, with Canada and Spain also on the podium with four golds each.

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