There’s a lot of feeding going on at Hayward Field. Only the mood did not boil over. That changed on the fourth day of competition – and makes ARD athletics expert Frank Busemann happy.
Robbie Williams sang “Let me entertain you”. The Americans can do that too. That’s what they say. Hollywood, Las Vegas and the Super Bowl halftime show to name just a few highlights of contemporary diversion. And now Eugene/Oregan. Hayward Field. The grapes hung high, the expectations even higher. London 2017 and Stuttgart 1993. These are house numbers to beat.
Eugene started with a pick-me-up. At the opening, two fighter jets soared over the stadium and ignited afterburner just above the circle to soar vertically into the evening sky. The non-American has probably never experienced anything like this, nor the average German anyway. My pulse rate would have put any intensive care doctor on high alert for the next twenty minutes. 200 beats per minute is anything but healthy and is otherwise only found in music or in the spin cycle of a washing machine. I was ready.
The prices are salted
In the stadium itself we find armchairs that do justice to any VIP box of the extra class, which is why the prices are certainly so salty. Up to 1,000 dollars for three hours of sport is at Super Bowl level (now the Americans cough and the Germans are amazed). But hardly anyone jumps up from their armchairs here. That may be because the event isn’t even halftime yet. This may be due to the fact that there are still places available. In fact, they say it’s sold out. There are hardly any tickets left, a reseller has secured the tickets. But when even in the 100 m final with four Americans this undersized stadium is not full, then a certain surprise is appropriate.
Atmosphere as such, measured in decibels and la ola laps in Germany, is sporadic here when a compatriot wins. That’s okay, but London and Stuttgart also stood out because even the last fighter on the field was cheered to the finish and the spectators switched on celebration mode when entering the arenas.
Perhaps it may also be due to the sport consumption that is known here. There was a study that showed cities with professional baseball teams had lower divorce rates. Because so little happens there, married couples have the opportunity to get rid of their everyday problems in a light, sporty picture carpet in a pleasant atmosphere. The cost of the couples therapist is comparable and he probably doesn’t serve a $15 Magherita pizza. Whatever food they bring in here. You sometimes feel like you are at a culinary festival of a thousand culinary delights.
Euphoria on the fourth day of competition
That’s how it felt until Monday. On the fourth day of the competition, pressure was finally put on the boiler. The crazy high jumpers broke the enthusiasm barrier. They wowed the audience with a great air show. The steeplechase runners idled away the pace and then apparently looked for the master in hand-to-hand combat. The 1,500 m runners forgot that it was a championship race and had booked attack as a tactic department. And the audience went with it. Again and again, all the time. So wonderful. At last the much invoked spirit of Hayward Field had awakened.
Dear Americans, let it go on like this. That is fun. But now you have to get out of the quark yourself. After all, we can’t let the high jumpers hop every day.