So we may lose athletics use of the Olympic stadium

[marilyn1]

The southern half of this country has no stadium worth the name if the OG Stadium disappears and we have left the poor stuff at rainy cool Manchester, wintry Gateshead and an improvement at Birmingham. Crystal Palace maybe a partial answer but I am not holding my breath. Sad.

[Ladyloz]

Interesting. I wonder if they will look to have 2 Diamond Leagues again - 1 in London and 1 in Birmingham.

I also found the information about bringing in an External Agency to manage the Commercial & Marketing aspect of the sport fascinating. So pretty much like Fast Track then before De Vos bought everything in house after London 2012. As they say, the more things change; the more they stay the same.

[Occasional Hope]

Jack Buckner lays out his battle plan - AW (athleticsweekly.com)

Jack Buckner is committed to keeping top level ahtletics in London, and the Olympic stadium has been confirmed for next year's DL.

[stirling]

The Mayor of London has already approved a regeneration of the Crystal Palace NSC - on 17 Dec 2021

The funding for main hall and pools has been secured, that has always been lion's share of NSC costs.

https://www.london.gov.uk/decisions/md2910-crystal-palace-national-sports-centre

[Ursus]

You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. The fact that every session of the commonwealth games has sold out says there is still a demand to watch top class athletics in this country. Sure the Birmingham stadium could host the European championships but it wouldn’t have the same wow factor

I don’t disagree, but champs are once in a blue moon and I’m sure they could reach agreement over those. Just seems pointless converting for what is essentially one DL meeting in a normal year. Somewhere like the Palace can be a dedicated athletics facility that can be trained at all year round and used for lower level comps too. As a kid I both competed and trained there and there was a real wow factor about being at the obvious home of GB athletics…..you don’t get that from a multi purpose stadium no matter how impressive it is.

Agree though that Birmingham is unlikely to be attractive for anything above Commonwealth level.

[Ladyloz]

We should definitely look at hosting the Europeans - if 2026 has already been decided what about 2030. As that would be the Multi Sport Europeans you could have some others events in London and other sports elsewhere.

[treadwater1]

I think it’s important that London can host major meets but that doesn’t have to be the Olympic Stadium. Realistically a stadium of that size is only for the most elite of events, of which any country only has very few. And unless they decide to make the WC and OG annual then we’re not seeing another global on these shores any time soon by which time the whole debate will have moved on.

Strike the deals that need to be struck and say thanks for the memories.

You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. The fact that every session of the commonwealth games has sold out says there is still a demand to watch top class athletics in this country. Sure the Birmingham stadium could host the European championships but it wouldn’t have the same wow factor

[PotterHoppo96]

I think they should look to redevelop Palace, if they can find the money (a very big if).

There aren't many events that justify keeping the Olympic Stadium as a one-month-per-year athletics venue. Earliest we could host the worlds again is 2027, but there's a lot of places to take the event first. Africa, Australia, South America, Japan, South East Asia, North America (not US), Poland, Italy for example. Earliest we'll host another olympics is 2036. Maybe a 2030 Commonwealth Games.

it doesn't sound a brilliant legacy giving it to a mid table premier league football team, but then again said team attracts 60k off fans 20 odd times a year.

[Ursus]

Well if UKA has the right to use it for 50 years and it’s £3m a time to reconfigure, maybe some of that could be redirected as a starter. A redeveloped Palace that could be extended for. a WC would be perfect!

[Chafford1]

I think it’s important that London can host major meets but that doesn’t have to be the Olympic Stadium. Realistically a stadium of that size is only for the most elite of events, of which any country only has very few. And unless they decide to make the WC and OG annual then we’re not seeing another global on these shores any time soon by which time the whole debate will have moved on.

Strike the deals that need to be struck and say thanks for the memories.

Unless funding for restoring Crystal Palace can be found, the London Stadium is the only option for hosting major athletics meetings in the Capital.

[Ursus]

I think it’s important that London can host major meets but that doesn’t have to be the Olympic Stadium. Realistically a stadium of that size is only for the most elite of events, of which any country only has very few. And unless they decide to make the WC and OG annual then we’re not seeing another global on these shores any time soon by which time the whole debate will have moved on.

Strike the deals that need to be struck and say thanks for the memories.

[Chafford1]

Looks like good news at least in the short to medium term. If there's no prospect of Crystal Palace being refurbished, then athletics should remain at Stratford.

[Ladyloz]

Seb Coe wades in - wants to keep athletics at the Olympic Stadium unsurprisingly.


Lord Coe expresses importance of keeping athletics at London Stadium - BBC Sport

[Ladyloz]

Already responded to a similar post you made....see post 24 in this thread.

[philipo]

Ladyloz
The total seats both permanent and temporary for the WC is 17221!!!So much for the 30,000 plus needed for a WC. So the stadium at Birmingham for the CG is more than sufficient.for a WC. Go Brum!!. Eugene's permanent seats at Eugene 12650. Wow!!!