FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
With 100 days to go, the mascot of the World Athletics Championships
100 Days to Go - Meet Youhuu!
Youhuu, a native Hungarian racka sheep, has been selected as the mascot for
the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and was
unveiled to the public at a press event to celebrate 100 days to go to the
World Championships.
Jon Ridgeon, CEO of World Athletics, rang a bell to reveal the
much-anticipated mascot in the newly-completed National Athletics Centre in
Budapest.
More than 1100 years ago, the racka sheep arrived in Hungary with the
settling Hungarians and has remained a faithful companion ever since. Sheep
can be found all over the world, but the distinctive racka breed is only
found where Hungarians live.
In particular, there were once many racka sheep in the area where the
National Athletics Centre now stands and where, in exactly 100 days' time,
the starting pistol will be fired for the biggest sporting event in
Hungary's history.
Youhuu is an everyday hero who is inspired by the World Athletics
Championships to take up sport and loves athletics. As the chief
cheerleader, he will be an essential part of the event before and during
the World Championships, sometimes sweet, sometimes cheeky, but always fun.
Ridgeon also presented the organisers with the official certification of
the National Athletics Centre, formally declaring that it is ready to host
the World Championships.
"We have just completed what we call our 'readiness site visit'," he said.
"This is a big milestone as it means we are now running down the home
straight. We are delighted with the progress. The Organising Committee is a
skilled and experienced team and they have created strong partnerships with
key delivery stakeholders across Budapest and Hungary including transport,
security, tourism, hotels and many, many more.
"There are still thousands of little decisions and connections to be made
but I am confident that the team and their partners and stakeholders will
deliver an exceptional event in 100 days' time here in this beautiful city
of Budapest. Whilst the competition starts in 100 days, around 2000
athletes from 200 countries, 1500 broadcasters and 2500 volunteers will be
arriving in Budapest up to one month before the Opening Ceremony. We know
they will all receive a warm Hungarian welcome from our hosts.”
"100 days before the start of the World Championships, the Local Organising
Committee has reached the home straight, meaning that all the plans are in
place to show that Hungary is capable of hosting the world's third biggest
sporting event to an outstanding standard," said Balázs Németh, CEO of the
organiser Budapest 2023 Zrt. "More than 10,000 people will be working
between 19 and 27 August to impress the more than 2000 competitors from
more than 200 countries participating in the World Championships, as well
as the hundreds of thousands of spectators and the one billion TV viewers
around the world," he added.
"With 160,000 tickets already sold for the World Championships, our aim to
move the country, encourage the masses to get moving, and promote athletics
and a sporty, healthy lifestyle, is clearly being achieved," said Ádám
Schmidt, State Secretary and Government Commissioner for the World
Athletics Championships. "Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to
witness the wonder of Hungarian athletes and the world's best athletes
competing at the brand new National Athletics Centre, and this event and
this facility together will be a huge step towards turning us from a sports
nation into a true sporting nation."
"In the last seven years, Hungary and Budapest have established themselves
as a global sports capital that has proven its high capability of
organising the world's biggest sporting events starting from the 2017 and
2022 World Aquatics Championships through the World Judo Championships and
World Fencing Championships or the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship just to name
a few," said Balázs Fürjes, co-chair of the 2023 World Athletics
Championships governing body. "However, the World Athletics Championships
will be the biggest event in Hungary's history. Budapest is in the heart of
Europe, very accessible from everywhere. It's a mid-size global city, very
compact, everything is within arm's reach. The culture is vibrant and we
are a sport-loving nation. Budapest is good value for money and a very safe
and secure destination. Budapest is meant to be the host city of major
international events. We are honoured that World Athletics chose Hungary
and Central Europe for the first time in history. Our country will perform
and honour this trust again. Hungary will perform and honour this trust
again."
"The World Championships are a unique and unrepeatable opportunity for
Hungarian athletics, and we are preparing accordingly, as we can already
see that a record number of Hungarian athletes are qualifying for the World
Championships, which is a great achievement in a sport where more countries
compete than the total number of UN members," said Miklós Gyulai, President
of the Hungarian Athletics Association. He also confirmed that the biggest
stars were in excellent form, so those who come out to cheer them on at the
National Athletics Centre can expect to witness outstanding performances.
The press event held on the occasion of the 100 days to go milestone was
also attended by Petra Farkas, Hungary's European U23 long jump champion,
who asked all sports-loving fans to buy tickets and visit the World
Athletics Championships. Hungarian fans, in particular, will have the
unique opportunity to see their athletics team perform at home on a world
stage.
"There will be finals every night and there will be all your favourites to
cheer for, and they will be given a huge boost by the crowd to perform at
an even higher level," Farkas said.
The World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 will take place between 19
and 27 August at the brand new National Athletics Centre. Road races will
be held around the historic UNESCO World Heritage sites in Budapest.
Tickets are available at tickets.wabudapest23.com.
###
|
