Even after the World Cup in August, the facility and Budapest can play a major role in the plans of the international association, said Ádám Schmidt, the state secretary responsible for sports, in the InfoRádió Aréna program.

After the appreciative statements of the past months, the organizing company summarizes the experiences of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Ádám Schmidt, the government commissioner of the event, asked the authorities to prepare an impact study regarding what the preliminary expectations were, what the international association, the profession, and the media expected from the organizers. The study will also likely cover what has been achieved from these plans, goals and visions. According to the Secretary of State’s knowledge, such a document has not been prepared before after a similar international event.

The organizing company, in accordance with the request of the State Secretariat for Sports, also investigates whether there were any aspects or issues that were not a basic requirement, but were still fulfilled as an added value. “I also asked that we show exactly how much the World Cup cost, how many countries fans came from, how many guest nights they spent in Hungary, how many people watched the World Cup on television,” explained the politician.

He emphasized: these “expert calculations” will show exactly how much the hosting of the Athletics World Championships meant to our country from the point of view of the country’s image. This impact study reveals “what the biggest sports event in Hungary’s history has meant in the world of numbers.”

The state secretary also spoke about the fact that the international association (World Athletics) will continue to assign a serious role to Budapest and the National Athletic Center in the future. He recalled that the president of the organization, Sebastian Coe, said after the event that “we raised the World Athletics Championships to a new level”, and also indicated that he would continue to cooperate closely with Hungarian representatives, sports leaders and organizers in the future. According to Ádám Schmidt, this is a great recognition, and he also revealed that they have been in contact with the international association ever since, and are constantly negotiating. The state secretary promised that if they receive the authorization from Sebastian Coe and the negotiations reach an advanced stage, they will inform the public about the details of the cooperation.

Ádám Schmidt indicated in the InfoRádió Aréna program that the National Athletic Center will have many functions. He considered it important to note that the facility and the sports park around it “would not have been built so quickly” if Budapest had not received the right to host the 2023 World Athletics Championships. As he put it, the facility “served the World Cup” properly, but it also became clear after the event that it was “a complex of facilities designed for much more”.

The politician said: they will definitely keep the promise that Europe’s most beautiful panoramic jogging track will be built at the National Athletic Center, which can also be used by those who enjoy recreational sports. He considers it an extremely important question how to use the 10.5-hectare sports park around the stadium. According to the plans, representatives of “smaller, emerging Olympic sports” will be provided with sports opportunities here.

According to Ádám Schmidt, the “old debt” of Hungarian sports management is the creation of the Olympic Sports Museum, which could even be realized within the territory of the National Athletic Center.

If this museum can appear there, then according to our ideas, the headquarters of the Hungarian Olympic Committee and the Hungarian Paralympic Committee would also appear in the same building complex. In addition, we strive to provide space and space for community sports enthusiasts and various cultural events in the remaining parts.

he detailed.

According to Ádám Schmidt, they are currently working on the plans, and he is confident that they will be able to present their proposals to the government around the end of January. After the necessary modifications, the contractor can return the facility in September 2024 according to the plans.