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Published: August 21st 2023
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On Thursday and Friday Fletcher spent most of the days at the Congress where a new council was elected and various committees reported on their activities. I vegged out completely on the Thursday but on Friday morning I walked up to the very vibrant shopping area and square behind the hotel. Here I explored the various shops and buildings. Market stalls had been set up in preparation for St Stephen's day which is Sunday.I bought myself a hat and some make-up, but after an hour and a half I was tired so wandered back to the hotel for a cold drink.
Fletcher returned and shared my club sandwich and then in the evening we went to the Local Organisibg Comittee dinner. This was even grander than the opening dinner. It was held in the Museum of Fine Arts, an imposing Neo Classical building in Heroes square. As we walked in a group of living statues, all white like some Greek sculptures, lined each side of the long hall.Then we went through to another large room where there was a short concert by a local pop star and some speeches. In the next large room the tables were all set up and
again we were treated to incredible entertainment, this time to some shadow dancers. An amazing night.
Saturday was the first day of the Championships. It was very grey and thunderstorms were about. We went by boat to the stadium and it was bucketing down.The men's 20k walk was delayed by 2 hours and the start of the program in the main stadium by one hour. It was still raining when the first event started but no lightning, thank goodness. The morning contained qualifying events and the start of the Heptathlon. We were interested in the preliminary heats of the 100m as that was where most of the Oceania athletes would be seen. The other pleasing event was the 1500m women's heats. All three of our Aussie women made the semifinals.
We went back to the hotel by boat for a short rest after a good lunch at the stadium. The weather had cleared and the heat returned. Another boat ride took us back for the evening session. The highlights of this was the men's Shot Put final won by the American, Crouser.We had dinner during the women's 10000 m predictably won by an Ethiopian with her country women also coming
second and third. Then an exciting finish to the night was the 4x400m mixed relay. The heats in the morning had shown the strength of the Netherlands team anchored by Femke Bol, the world record holder in the 400 hurdles. In the last leg of the relay she was ahead battling with the American girl when she stumbled and fell 10 metres from the line losing the baton and therefore the race. A tragic end for them It also cost them 180,000 dollars, 80,000 for winning and 100,000 for beating the world record!!!
Sunday dawned bright and clear and promised to be very warm. We started watching the women's 20k walk on TV but then headed to the boat and stadium. Again the morning was mainly qualifying rounds with the women's 100m heats the most interesting. Also of interest was the men's HJ. We cheered on the Oceania contingent in the 100 and then were pleased that Brandon Starc made the High Jump final. It was very hot in the direct sun so we lurked in the shade only emerging to watch the races.
By the time the morning session was finished we had lunch then decided not to return
to the hotel but waited at the stadium. The evening session was starting at 4-30 because of the celebration for Hungary's national day. Fletcher started a conversation with a man from Kenya and he turned out to be David Rudisha, a former world record holder in middle distance. We also watched the medal ceremony for the women's 20k walk, where Jemima Montag from Australia won the silver medal!!
The semifinals of the men's 100m saw Rohan Browning miss out on the final, but Jessica Hull made it through the semi into the final of the 1500m A great effort. After the final of the men's 100 we were ushered to a large boat where dinner was served and we could watch the fireworks. They were spectacular with the castle and riverbanks lined with spectators all lit up in various ways. A great end to a great day.
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