DENISE LEWIS has slammed the IAAF for their decision to bring the World Athletics Championships to Doha following poor ticket sales.
The 40,000-seater Khalifa International Stadium has been barely a third full during the three nights of athletics action.
Lewis has slammed the IAAF for bringing the World Championships to Doha
Even though cooling technology has reduced the air temperature for the athletes, there is general lack of interest in Qatar for track-and-field outside of certain African migrant communities.
The men’s 100m final on Saturday night for example, considered to be the high point of any championships, took place amid rows and rows of empty seats.
The London 2017 World Championships were played out to full crowds and the next worlds, which take place Eugene in the US, should see are expected to attract decent crowds.
And Lewis, the 2000 Olympic heptathlon champion, is angry that the world’s best athletes are being undermined by the number of empty seats and significantly diminished atmosphere.
FLAT ATMOSPHERE
Lewis, 47, said: “I walked into the stadium tonight and looked around and said: ‘Is this the World Championships?’
“We’ve waited until October to have stands like this – empty. It’s shocking.
“I don’t think it’s right. Our governing body has let our athletes down, massively.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad. We want to see people. The athletes deserve people, an energy and an atmosphere to thrive on.”
Adam Gemili, who qualified for the 200m semi-finals, joked: “It makes the British Champs look quite good!
“It’s a weird world champs. It’s very strange. It feels weird not having Usain [Bolt] around and that’s massive.
“But the onus is on all us athletes to make this champs even more exciting and there’s so many exciting events coming up.”
Dina Asher-Smith wins silver in women’s 100m final as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce takes gold
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
