Just got done watching a couple races of today's Lausanne Grand Prix on Universal Sports and noticed the stands were close to full on a weekday in what looks like a 15,000 to 20,000 seat stadium...and the crowd seems to be really into it. How were the promoters able to pull that one off? Did they have dancing girls between events, free beer, or do the Swiss not get out much with all the cold weather and are just happy to be outdoors.
Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and a few other countries still enjoy the sport of track and field (or field and track). The public is knowledgeable, minor meets are broadcasted live, and results and interviews are on the news.
What other sporting events are going on within 200 miles of that stadium?
Your mother took the night off.
Ummmmm, ever hear of Usain Bolt???
and by the way, I am sorry about the earlier post, but you threw me a soft ball, right over the plate and I had to hit it out of the park.
The Dan Huling Show came to town. Between his posse and his fanbase, you have about 11,000 right there.
Bolt's the big reason. It's strong meet every year, though.
My brother and his son actually live in Lausanne and I finally convinced them to go to the meet. But they showed up today without tickets and couldn't get in...it was packed.
This only the 35th straight year they've had the meet. And the fireworks show at the end.
Lausanne is a mini GP meet. Main GL and now DL meets in Europe get up to 70k fans. The 2010 New York DL and 2010 Eugene DL meets were complete failures with atrocious TV ratings. The IAAF will likely cancel and possibly move the meets to other US venues or to another country.