European Championships events ‘draw in half a million people’
HALF A million people got involved in events linked to the inaugural European Championships in Glasgow, organisers say.
Glasgow 2018 saw the city host six sports – aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, golf, rowing and triathlon, which featured Yorkshire athlete Alistair Brownlee – over 11 days of competition in August, while Berlin staged the athletics.
It was the biggest sporting event hosted in Glasgow since the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Organisers of the championships, which drew to a close on Sunday, said more than 500,000 people – double the projected number – attended a sports session or one of the associated cultural events.
Some 138,000 tickets were issued to spectators for sporting events such as the swimming at Tollcross, track cycling at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome or diving at Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Pool.
An estimated 57,000 people turned out to watch free events such as the men’s and women’s road races and cycling time trial events, mountain biking at Cathkin Braes and open water swimming at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, organisers revealed.
Meanwhile, George Square was said to have attracted tens of thousands of people with events such as a mass ceilidh, a mass karaoke and an orchestral concert.
Thousands of people were also said to have attended the daily Go Live! events at Glasgow Green and street events in the Merchant City.
Championships director Colin Hartley thanked all those involved in the event.