No crowd for Usain Bolt to draw energy from in Moscow

Barely anyone is watching the World Athletics Championships at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Robert Ghement / EPA

When Usain Bolt runs, he draws energy from the crowd. That has been tough to do in Moscow.

The World Athletics Championships have struggled to draw track fans to the Luzhniki Stadium, the same venue that hosted the 1980 Olympics. Even with a reduced seating capacity and thousands of free tickets handed out, the locals in the Russian capital seem to have better things to do.

“Yeah, I noticed,” said Bolt, who won the 100 metres final on Sunday. “Not every country is about track and field, a lot of countries are about football. It’s my duty, and every other athlete here, to compete at your best so next time there’s a full stadium.”

Organisers released official attendance figures on Tuesday, saying 40,461 spectators – a debatable listing – watched Bolt reclaim his 100m world title in 9.77 seconds. They said it was the highest attendance figure for track and field in Russia since the 1980 Olympics.

Crowds at the morning sessions at past world championships were often underwhelming, but in Moscow they have been abysmal.

“You seem to be in a training session. This is not a healthy environment for us,” said the Mexican distance runner Diego Estrada.

“It’s dead. It’s like night and day from London,” the Dominican hurdler Felix Sanchez said. “There’s no atmosphere.”

Some have blamed the lack of advertising around the city for the poor attendance, but Ukraine pole vault great Sergei Bubka said he thought it might just be the nice weather keeping people out in the sun rather than in a huge stadium.

Maybe both are true, but neither has stopped about 1,000 Ukraine fans from showing up for just about every session.

“It’s all perfect here and we are cheering for Ukraine, and for Russians as well,” said Alexander Ksyonz, a 19-year-old student from Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine.

Ksyonz was sitting in one of the two large sections of Ukraine fans on opposite sides of the stadium, decked out in their blue or yellow shirts. He said his trip was paid for by a sponsor.

Another Ukraine student, the 22-year-old Viktor Shamur, said he came to Moscow for the entire nine-day competition. Not many locals, however, are following his lead.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “Russians are not that active.”

– Associated Press