Track and Field Championship a hit

There’s one simple way to measure the success of the Canadian Track and Field Championships which wrapped up Sunday at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

When the championships return next summer, even more temporary seats will be added in order to deal with standing-room only crowds which greeted the likes of Andre De Grasse, Melissa Bishop and Canada’s other marquee Olympic names this week.

When De Grasse won the 100 title on Friday night, an overflow crowd rimmed the outside of the track. It was a similar scene Saturday night, when Bishop galloped to victory with a large contingent from her hometown of Eganville cheering wildly.

“We basically doubled the seating with temporary seating (to 5,000),” said Mathieu Gentes, chief operating officer for Athletics Canada and the tournament organizer. “When we come back, we’ll be looking to increase that capacity. The support from Ottawa was awesome, pretty much every night.”

The exact dates of the 2018 meet haven’t been set, but the event will likely be pushed back to later in July. Unlike this summer, there is no World Championship to compete with. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will take place in Australia in March.

“We’ll see where it lands, but it will likely be more in the heart of summer and get away from Canada Day a bit,” said Gentes. “That was good and bad. It’s cool to be here at Canada Day, but with the cost of hotels, it’s a bit expensive, too.”

As a whole, Gentes says there isn’t much need for major changes. There are a few “tweaks” and a little “tightening of screws” he would like to see. That includes moving the javelin competition to the main field, as opposed to a back field.

“For anyone who hasn’t seen a javelin fly in the air 70 metres deep, it’s pretty impressive. We want to use that infield runway and feature that front and centre. It’s one of the coolest events to watch.”