When I arrived at the Meeting Madrid on 8 Februay, there was already a buzz in the air. The small arena housing the 200m banked track looked to seat 2,500 to 3,000.
The sprints and hurdles would attract, but the jumps, the women’s Pole Vault, the women’s TJ and the men’s LJ would also be fine fields. In the men’s shot, a resurging David Storl, European, Olympic and World gold medalists, has the WL in the shot right now.
In the mix, Spanish runners in the 800m, 1,500m and 3000m were there to get European Indoor Standards.
My seating was in a media section that was challenging to work in, as if the media section was an after thought. What made it highly entertaining though, to this writer, was the animated comments by coaches and wanna be coaches with athletes in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot put and especially, the pole vault.
My view in Madrid, photo by Larry Eder
The arena had excited and knowledgable announcing, that whipped up the SRO crowd. Whatever it was supposed to seat, it surpassed the reccommended audience numbers.
What made this meet so hot? The fans got into it! From the 400 meters and sprints, to the hotly contested 3000 meters! The fans of athletics were satiated by the Meeting Indoor Madrid.
Please enjoy our podcast part 1 on the flavor and performances of the meet!
Special thanks to Mike Deering of The Shoe Addicts for his hard work on the podcast.
The @runblogrun tour of the IAAF World Indoor Tour, aka Le Tour de Larry, is sponsored by USATF and Nike, reminding you that the 2019 Toyota USATF Indoor Championships are February 22, 23, and 24 at the Ocean Breeze AC, on Staten Island. To purchase tickets, please use this link:
http://www.usatf.org/Events—
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