Some competitions, such as for the walkers, took place in the early morning – to avoid the heat wave – at the World Championships in Athletics in Budapest, Hungary.

Despite the sweltering heat and the resulting shift of competitions to the early morning and late evening hours, the World Championships in Athletics in Hungary turned out to be a crowd puller.

From a German point of view, the World Athletics Championships were not an enormous success.

At the 35-kilometre walkers’ competition, a spectator from Slovakia expressed his enthusiasm. “We went running this morning, we knew that right now (the running race) is the walkers’ competition, so we came here, the atmosphere is fantastic (he points to the Slovakian runner), our man is here, so we cheer them on.”

A spectator from France also praises the World Championships in Budapest. “It’s my 10th World Championships as a spectator, I’ve been to some Olympics, I think it’s well organised, the track is absolutely great, the time of day is well chosen because it’s not too hot.”

A Swede is also looking forward. “We are from Sweden, so far away, we have seen the 20 kilometre and now the 35 kilometre walker competitions, and the silver medal for a Swede (Perseus Karlström), and we hope for a gold medal this time.”

The organisers are pleased. All evening tickets for the sporting events have been sold, they say, with few morning tickets still available for the weekend only.

Based on television figures, it is estimated that spectator numbers will surpass the record set at the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.