Alison dos Santos at The Day Before the Ultimate (© Getty Images)
Athletes brought personality, anticipation and a glimpse of what is to come at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 as The Day Before – a new-look pre-event media programme – took place at the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre on Thursday (10).
Replacing the traditional athlete press conference with a series of more athlete-forward media and content opportunities, The Day Before featured a red carpet, athlete interviews and content capture, the first-ever 200m lane draft, and a Kids’ Athletics Ultimate Challenge. About 200 athletes were in attendance, and they interacted with 220 accredited members of the media and broadcasters.
The afternoon opened with an official press conference featuring World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, Ultimate Legend Usain Bolt, Gábor Pósfai, Minister of the Interior of Hungary, and 2008 Olympic 100m hurdles champion Dawn Harper-Nelson, who will serve as an infield host throughout the three-day championship.
“We’ve created a stage that I genuinely think our best athletes will respond to,” said Coe. “They’re here in Budapest to solve those bar-room, coffee-house discussions: who’s the best? Nobody goes into sport to figure out who’s second best. They go in wanting to know who the best is.”
“I think this new format is a great mix of tradition and innovation,” said Pósfai. “One of the big questions is how we can reach young people and develop innovative models. I believe that with this format we can break down some barriers and reach new people.”
Bolt welcomed the opportunity to see the sport experimenting with a different kind of championship.
“It’s great to see track and field going in a different direction, something more exciting,” said the multiple world and Olympic champion. “This is going to be great, to see the best of the best. I’ve always lived to compete against the best, so I would thrive in this moment.”
Harper-Nelson was equally enthusiastic about the championship’s willingness to experiment and involve athletes in shaping its innovations.
“Just take the lane draft as an example. They wanted input from the athletes,” she said. “And I want to bring the drama. I want to have them nervous, like: ‘Where should I go? What should be happening?’”
“When the camera comes to me, expect drama. Expect excitement. Because that’s what this sport is,” she added. “World records could fall every day. That is the energy that I want to bring.”
200m athletes make their picks
Harper-Nelson then took charge of one of the afternoon’s biggest innovations: the first 200m lane draft, as the men’s and women’s sprinters selected their semi-final heat and lane.
Starting with the highest-ranked athlete in the discipline world rankings, the sprinters made their selections one at a time. Each successive athlete could see the choices already made, giving them the option to line up alongside a rival or avoid them as the available lanes narrowed.
The biggest reactions came when the second-ranked athletes in both draws chose to go head-to-head with the top-ranked contenders.
In the women’s draw, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden selected lane six, placing herself directly alongside world No.1 and Olympic champion Gabby Thomas. They will be joined in that semi-final by Rhasidat Adeleke, Jenna Prandini, Kayla White and Torrie Lewis, among others. The opposite semi-final features Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Amy Hunt, Anavia Battle and Jaël Bestué.
There was a similar show of intent in the men’s draw, where Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo opted for lane six, just outside world No.1 and Diamond League champion Kenny Bednarek. Their semi-final will also feature Alexander Ogando, Courtney Lindsey, Timothé Mumenthaler and Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike, while the other race includes Andre De Grasse, Makanakaishe Charamba, Bryan Levell and Aaron Brown.
Ultimate stars hit the red carpet
Athletes and ambassadors arrived throughout the afternoon for a red-carpet experience designed to showcase their personalities away from the competition arena.
Dressed in lifestyle clothing of their choice, they took part in photography, video and Glambot shoots before moving into the media day area for interviews, photoshoots and content sessions with rights-holding broadcasters, international media, photographers and content creators.
Two-time world indoor champion and world record-holder Simon Ehammer embraced the opportunity to step outside the usual pre-competition routine.
“It was so good and so strange at the same time to step onto the red carpet at the stadium,” said Ehammer. “It’s not like the usual stuff we do before a competition, but I think it’s a good idea to show another side of the athlete.”
For Georgia Hunter Bell, the afternoon offered a chance to show some style.
“I like growing my hair out but, being in a long race for four minutes, you can't wear your hair down all the time,” said the European 1500m champion. “So I usually have to finish my race before letting my hair down.”
World 400m hurdles record-holder Alison dos Santos felt that giving athletes greater freedom to express themselves could help attract a wider audience.
“I want to show people that I love and enjoy what I’m doing, just be myself, wear nice jewellery, show up with a different hairstyle, do different things at the track like dancing,” said Dos Santos. “I want to be that guy who is going to bring people to the sport because they’re going to be curious about it.”
Jefferson-Wooden and Tebogo take on the Kids' Athletics Ultimate Challenge
Later in the afternoon, Ultimate Stars Jefferson-Wooden and Tebogo swapped elite competition for grassroots athletics as they led teams of local children in the Kids’ Athletics Ultimate Challenge inside the stadium.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Jefferson-Wooden, the world 100m and 200m champion. “Being able to spend time with kids who love what I love brings everything back full circle. It reminds me why I do it and where it all started, with me being a kid who wanted to run really fast.”
“It was a great experience with the kids. I really love working with them,” said Tebogo. “Even though there was a language barrier, they could understand what was happening and what they needed to do. They were a really great team. I wish we could run it again.”
US sprinter TeeTee Terry was also on hand to meet the children, signing copies of her books ‘TeeTee’s World Adventure’ and ‘TeeTee’s World Adventure: Little Steps, Big Wins’.
The activity brought The Day Before to a close, one day before the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 gets under way at the National Athletics Centre.
