Jeff Shaver is a a recently retired professional in the technology sector. Jeff is also a life-long runner and member of the HOKA Aggies. Jeff Shaver, a long time friend, was one of my keen observers of the Tokyo 2025 World Champs. Here is what Jeff thought stood out!
What went well / excited fans:
1) Local support for Japanese athletes was fantastic. The Japanese athletes who did well really appreciated the backing of the fans. Those who didn’t perform up to their expectations felt they let the fans down, even openly crying during interviews.
2) The meet was full of excitement with many of the favorites prevailing but also many surprises and upsets. This is why they hold the meets and don’t look just publish the rankings.
3) Marketing for the meet was fantastic. There was signage all over Tokyo. The meet was sold out (~65,000 people) most nights. The marathon course was lined with people the entire way for both the women’s and men’s races. And ticket prices, hotel costs, food costs were all quite reasonable (no local Eugene-like price gouging).
What could be improved:
1) Many people will complain about the weather no matter what it’s like. Tokyo 2025 had extreme heat & humidity marathons) but also torrential rain (relays). There’s probably not a single global location that will be perfect for everyone over the course of a nine-day meet. Just accept the weather for what it is and appreciate that the athletes are performing to the best of their abilities.
2) The souvenir stands and many of the concession stands were out of items on a daily basis before the meet ever started. There was plenty of information available on number of tickets sold plus considerable data from previous World Champs and similar events. The meet management should have done a better job replenishing sold out items or never advertising the items they knew they wouldn’t be able to provide.
3) The sound system at Japan National Stadium needs improvement. Sometimes the announcements were loud and clear and sometimes it sounded like a game show host shouting nonsense into a microphone just to make noise. It also seemed like speaker placement in the stadium was not consistent from section to section. I sat in several sections over the course of the meet and not all sections were acoustically equal. At least the video screen messaging was very good.
