Well done Eugene. It appeared to be a great meet. It would be nice to here from people who were there regarding the crowds, accommodations, transportation, traffic.
Well done Eugene. It appeared to be a great meet. It would be nice to here from people who were there regarding the crowds, accommodations, transportation, traffic.
It's been a great meet from my vantage point. The atmosphere during the races -- outside of the morning sessions -- was pretty electric. Not sure if that energy transfers to TV audience, or not.
The number one complaint I heard from folks at the meet was due to lodging -- either having to stay out of town, absolutely gouged at local hotels and/or airbnbs. Some of the University's dorms -- where a lot of the athletes and teams were housed -- are very sparse and crappy...so that wasn't universally appreciated.
Overall, I heard a ton of positive thoughts on the meet from folks from around the world (I live in Oregon, so was extra curious as to what the experience was like for travelers...)
did y’all forget Devon Allen. Clock was all messed up so can’t even trust times.
I think I saw only one false start after that. How much you want to bet they fixed the issue without telling anyone?
I don't think so. Look at the reaction time today for women's 100 m hurdles. Fast overall, and Danielle Williams had 0.105 in semifinal and 0.105 in final. I doubt she anticipated both times and got so lucky.
Although I do wish they had offered cheaper tickets to help fill the seats. I know a lot of locals and families gathered to watch it on the HUGE screen at the racing fest at the new riverfront park, which was free and had a pretty raucous/festive atmosphere on the night I checked it out. Why not sell the worst seats -- the ones the temporary stands they brought in for the meet -- for $10 a pop? Pack the house, and bring in the families and the folks who want to check it out...
How is it an A+ when it is empty stands for two relay golds for the home team, and Duplantis and Ingebrigtsens incredible performances.
A lot of the empty seats were in the hottest part of the stadium where there's no sun protection. I wonder if they bailed or just watched from the screens or another part of the stadium.
It was a great ten days! I want to reflect on it a bit and hit some parties tonight but, I have some thoughts about the sport’s domestic fan base after interacting with international fans. (We need to pull our heads out of our collective a$$, start recognizing great performances, stop being so provincial, and learn to enjoy it instead of trying to tear it down.)
Things I saw that looked successful we're the Mascot, he seemed to do very well. I thought the marathon course was excellent. The awarding of medals directly after the event seemed to go well. I'm sure others have ideas about logistics and amenities and such , but I thought everything looked nice. One thing I thought was so-so were the uniforms. Nothing blew me away and when participants from the same nation had on different unis, it was odd.
Well done Eugene. It appeared to be a great meet. It would be nice to here from people who were there regarding the crowds, accommodations, transportation, traffic.
I was there for 6 sessions. Accommodations gets an F, crowd numbers get a B-, but everything else was an A.
This was my 5th big meet at Hayward (2021 Olympic Trials, 2021 and 2022 Pre, 2022 USA Champs, Worlds. By far the most full I have seen the stadium, but still large chunks of empty seats at all sessions.
Not enough hotels / Airbnbs to accommodate fans in Eugene. Fans shouldn’t have to stay 45 plus minutes away.
Traffic was non-existent. Parking was easy to find and cheap. Waits at restaurants were minimal. The stadium is incredible. Seats are really comfortable. Minimal waits to get into the stadium.
I was there for Days 2 and 3. Flew up from LA, direct flight. My Airbnb was like 1 mile away and a bit pricey (~$500/night), but worth it for the convenience and not having to eat out for every meal. Stadium and atmosphere was excellent. The athletes were just walking around with general population - I walked out on Saturday night following Cooper Teare, saw Dom Scott walking down the street in tears after her race, waited in line next to Paula Radcliffe.
the stadium has like a standing area that is shaded which may be where everyone was watching because it did get really hot down on the track and in the seats. It was really rocking when a good race was happening, so I know there were a lot of people there.
You can get a decent hotel room tonight in East Eugene on Hotwire for $179. I think the hotel rooms were like the seats - lots of reservations with a lack of follow through.
There didn't seem to be a way to stub hub or TM a cheap ticket. So if most of those seats were actually pre-sold to non attendees (or corporate tix) there wasn't a way that I could find to pick them up for cheap on the secondary market. If they weren't pre-sold, then the organizers just held the inventory rather than dumping on stub hub or via groupon deals. Not sure why.
I had a working pass and chose to stay away from the event as much as possible. My daughter had Covid a week ago and I was avoiding crowds. I think there were a lot of other locals in the same boat.
The terrible exchange rate for USD from most countries probably played a part. Everyone was paying an extra 20%+ for currency. Airlines were going to be expensive regardless, but they really seemed to jack up the prices in and out of Eugene this past month, especially from the east coast.
Went to the fan festival tonight and it was very nice. Good food and drink options, reasonable prices, great screen and good crowd vibes. Hot, but not too crowded.
I'd give it a B+ in a very challenging environment. The on field action (other than the false starts) was fantastic. Weather was just about perfect with cool mornings, hot afternoons and warm evenings. The organizers should be proud. If we had cheap travel, a favorable exchange rate, and a normal secondary ticket market for locals to snap up spare tix it would have been an A.
I was there for Days 2 and 3. Flew up from LA, direct flight. My Airbnb was like 1 mile away and a bit pricey (~$500/night), but worth it for the convenience and not having to eat out for every meal. Stadium and atmosphere was excellent. The athletes were just walking around with general population - I walked out on Saturday night following Cooper Teare, saw Dom Scott walking down the street in tears after her race, waited in line next to Paula Radcliffe.
the stadium has like a standing area that is shaded which may be where everyone was watching because it did get really hot down on the track and in the seats. It was really rocking when a good race was happening, so I know there were a lot of people there.
Very similar experience for me during the first five days. Regularly found myself shoulder-to-shoulder with athletes & coaches on the university grounds and randomly around town, in shops, restaurants and during morning runs. Perfect weather, incredible stadium experience--someone please build a Hayward East!--and spectating street-side in Springfield for two elite marathons in two days made the cost of travel and lodging an afterthought.