London 2017 Breaks World Record
London 2017 has announced that IAAF World Championships, held at the London Stadium, has gone into the record books for the number of tickets sold.
With the event wrapped up on Sunday evening, the Championships were awarded an official Guinness World Record for the number of tickets sold for an IAAF World Championships, with a recorded figure of 701,889, which will soon be updated to 705,000 to reflect the final amount sold. Session 12 on the morning of Saturday 12th August was the best ticketed session at 56,620.
The London Stadium was not the sole focus for the Championships with the men’s and women’s marathons, held on the same day of the Championships (Sunday 6th August) for the first time ever, and attracting 150,000 spectators around its landmark filled 10km loop course.
Crowds also flocked to The Mall in their thousands to witness the first ever Festival of Race Walks on Sunday 13th August, which saw all four races held on a single day, also for the first time ever.
With over three times the amount of applications to places available, it took the help of 4,500 volunteers, known as Runners, to stage the Championships.
Niels de Vos, championship director and CEO, UK Athletics said: “As the organising committee of the IAAF World Championships London 2017, we are extremely proud to have delivered a Championships that has received such great support from the athletes and the public, whether watching in the stadium or at home.
“Over ten days of world-class athletics both in Stratford and across central London, we have witnessed the world’s top sportsmen and women perform at their very best. The response has truly shown the impact athletics continues to have on the UK and beyond.
“From our record-breaking ticket sales to the fantastic dedication of our Runners and even to our official mascot Hero, it has been a pleasure to stage these Championships for every single one of the 2,200 athletes from 203 nations involved.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The IAAF World Athletics Championships really captured the spirit of London and will live long in the memory as another chapter in an unforgettable summer of sport in our great city. We’ve seen medals won and personal bests smashed, and there’s no better honour for London than staging the final championship races of legends Mo Farah and Usain Bolt.
“More than 700,000 people filled the London Stadium, beating all previous attendance records, while millions around the globe have been watching what has been a truly memorable World Athletics Championships. I am so proud London was the first city to host both the World Para Athletics Championships and the IAAF World Athletics Championships in the same year, proving once again that London really is the sporting capital of the world.”
