Athletics | Ticket sales for the under-23 European Championships exceeded expectations – 14,000 spectators visited Leppävaara

Espoo general secretary of the games Hanne Pirkola and competition manager Harri Lammi happily watched the closing day of the under-23 European Athletics Championships on Sunday. Rain interrupted the competition for a while on Friday, but the event as a whole succeeded even beyond the expectations of the organizers.

“Exceeded expectations, including the athletes’ performances”, Pirkola confirmed.

“The athletes’ successes brought a boost to the Games, and the number of spectators was a pleasant surprise.”

Around 14,000 spectators watched the games in the Leppävaara sports park over the course of five days. Friday and Saturday were sold out. The general secretary was also satisfied with the number of guests on Thursday and Sunday.

“We didn’t have an exact audience target, but I had thought about a total of 10,000 viewers.”

Pirkola did not have the final results of the games yet.

“The overall result is certainly okay. I don’t dare to promise more details, since many expenditure items are still open”, Pirkola stated.

“Ticket sales have at least helped here.”

Leader of the competition Lammi confessed that the dreams were short from the beginning of the week, when details had to be checked and new things kept coming to mind. The end result was good. The heavy rain was overcome, and the weather was generally sunny.

“I feel better now. We got good results from the athletes and financially good competitions”, Lammi was happy.

“It’s good to organize games at this stadium. Spectators get close to the athletes and feel that they are part of the event. The best thing about the whole event was the atmosphere. The way the gang participated in the competitions.”

Foreign guests also praised the atmosphere of the games.

“There has been a great feeling at the Games, and it has also received praise from the European Athletics Federation”, Pirkola said.