Christian Milz, CEO of European Athletics, sees athletics as a whole on course
Image: Keystone
After the European Championships in Rome and the Olympic Games in Paris, Christian Milz is looking to the future with confidence. Athletics, he says, needs to extend the season further and create even more highlights in the future
Image: Keystone
Christian Milz, CEO of European Athletics, sees athletics as a whole on course
Image: Keystone
After the European Championships in Rome and the Olympic Games in Paris, Christian Milz is looking to the future with confidence. Athletics, he says, needs to extend the season further and create even more highlights in the future
Image: Keystone
Christian Milz, CEO of European Athletics, is having a great summer. After an exciting European Championships in Rome, athletics is celebrating in Paris. The man from Neuchâtel puts things in perspective.
Endless applause, shouts of joy, "Allez les Bleus" cheers, waves of la-ola, a full stadium in the early hours of the morning, a cauldron, light shows. Let's be honest: did you expect such an atmosphere?
Christian Milz: "This atmosphere testifies to the tradition and acceptance of athletics in Europe and in France. The audience in attendance knows the sport well and knows that there will be an exceptional level of performance, records and unforgettable emotions. Every evening I had goosebumps myself because the atmosphere was so intoxicating. What's more, Paris is in the center of Europe and easy to get to. Finally, the audience supports all the athletes, which was not always the case. The example of pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, who was booed by the local crowd in Rio in 2016, is one such example. But no, I'm not surprised by this magical atmosphere".
The stadium was sold out despite the exorbitant prices, even by Swiss standards. For a ticket, for example, on Thursday evening somewhere under the roof of the hall, you had to fork out 300 francs. Are the Olympic Games such a magnet?
"As in the economy, it's the law of supply and demand. The rarer, more prestigious and unique an event with limited capacity is, the more people are prepared to pay a high price. Besides, the last Olympic Games in Europe were held in London twelve years ago, and after Paris it will be at least until 2036 before they are held in Europe again. Apart from that, I regret these exorbitant prices, which are not in keeping with the image of athletics, which should be a sport accessible to all. On the other hand, the OC had set aside a large budget for ticket sales and in order to achieve this, it unfortunately had to set very high prices for the most paradisiacal of sports."
And what does a look at the medal table in athletics tell you?
"Athletics is becoming more and more universal, both in Europe and worldwide. At the European Championships in Rome in June, 27 countries won medals. All countries are making great efforts to develop and find talent, and not just in their traditional disciplines. Who would have thought 20 years ago that a Jamaican would become Olympic champion in the discus throw or that the Olympic podium in the men's javelin would be made up of Pakistan, India and Grenada!"
So athletics remains the number 1 Olympic core sport?
"Without arrogance, yes, athletics remains the number one Olympic sport by a wide margin. You only have to look at the TV ratings and the audience figures, with over a million spectators, to see that it is way ahead of swimming, the number two Olympic sport. And the TV figures are identical. At European level, we had 35 stations present during our championships in Rome, while swimming had four TV stations the following week in Belgrade at the European Championships."
Nevertheless, aren't Rome and Paris unique exceptions?
"We need to stretch out the season, i.e. start earlier and end later, in order to achieve a stronger presence for athletics. The global Diamond League series is the central theme, then come the top events such as the European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. On the other hand, we (European Athletics) are launching the European Road Running Championships in Brussels in April, where the European titles in the marathon, half marathon and 10 km race will now be awarded. The concept is novel as we are offering every amateur runner the opportunity to compete in the European Championships with the best athletes and aim for a team medal calculated from the best 50 times, including elite and amateurs. There will also be an individual ranking per nation where everyone can rank their level in their country. Six months after we opened registration, we already had over 10,000 participants from every country in Europe."
Sport is entertainment, as Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, also emphasizes. Like you, he says that the season needs to be extended. In addition, the athletics product should be adapted more to the lifestyle of young people and more "big moments" should be created. What do you think?
"We want and are pushing for innovation, but in the spirit of tradition. The TV and streaming figures show it clearly: the public continues to love and consume athletics and its traditional disciplines. But we still need to work on some details. For example, viewers don't understand why the fifth-placed runner in the last decathlon cheers at the finish of the 1500m race, as was the case with the Norwegian Olympic champion. Worse still: at the finish of the last run (800 m) in the heptathlon, you had to wait three to four long minutes to find out the placing of the first four athletes and whether Annik Kälin would lose her bronze medal. This is unacceptable in this day and age."
The solution?
"A pursuit like in Nordic skiing. You would have to convert the points into seconds before the last discipline and let the athletes start with a handicap. Whoever finishes first is the winner. Unfortunately, we have little influence on changing the rules, but we are fighting for this change, which would also give greater recognition to the all-around competition."
Switzerland did not win a medal in Paris - would you have been happy about this as EA President or do you have to remain neutral to the outside world?
"My heart beats for Switzerland, that's clear. On the other hand, my role requires me to remain emotionally neutral, and of course I'm happy about every medal for Europe. In addition, the level is getting higher and higher and the competition is getting tougher. Switzerland has achieved five top 8 finishes and has been on the right track for over ten years. With a little more luck, we could have won one or two medals."
At the European Championships in Rome, you saw that supposedly small nations such as Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands were ahead of big nations such as Germany, Poland and Spain in the medal table. Why is that?
"The European Championships in Zurich in 2014, Amsterdam in 2016 and Berlin in 2018 have not failed to have an impact. Switzerland is a role model, which Patrick Magyar started with the founding of the UBS Kids Cup and other initiatives that preceded the European Championships in Zurich ten years ago and are still going strong, such as the Mile Gruyère, the Visana Sprint and the UBS Kids Cup Team. In addition, the professional management of scouting, the training of coaches, the search for sponsors, etc. is a lengthy task, but one that automatically bears fruit. And Swiss Athletics is doing an incredible job thanks to its president Christoph Seiler and his team. In contrast, the other nations are not sleeping either. The Germans are very strong in the junior categories, and the French are also coming back."
The French had no luck during the Games in athletics, only one medal.
"I wish France and Paris only one thing: that they quickly find the means and the strength to organize a European Athletics Championships based on the Olympic Games. That would be a great legacy of the Games and definitely a great event with undoubtedly many medals in the red, white and blue colors."
