The OS is not West Ham's stadium, says Athletics chief

  • by Staff Writer
  • Tuesday, 27th January 2015

UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos says he wants the Olympic Stadium to be "the beating heart of Athletics" for many years to come.

Despite the Hammers being granted first dibs at the stadium during the football season from 2016/17 - a requirement of participation in the Premier League - during the summer months, a whole host of non-football-related events will be staged there.

Some of those events will include Athletics meetings, with the sport having been granted the right to stage events at the Olympic Stadium for one month each year for the next 50 years.

de Vos, speaking in an interview with the Standard revealed that he viewed the Olympics Stadium as the sport's own Wembley Stadium - and expects the legacy of the 2012 summer Olympic Games to be centred on the new home of West Ham United FC.

"For us, this is not West Ham’s stadium, this is Athletics' stadium," he said. "For that month each year it is just that. We’re not the summer tenant. We want to make it an amazing place for people to do the sport and watch it.

"We want the Olympic Stadium to be the beating heart of athletics. It’s not the only place for the sport, of course, but all roads lead there and it has to be a very physical illustration of the sport at all levels.



Athletics' chief de Vos, pictured recently


"We need that to be our Wembley, to be our Wimbledon. If you’re an up-and-coming athlete now, you need to think, ‘I want to be running on the Olympic track in the Olympic Stadium’.

"That’s a responsibility that’s going to weigh pretty heavy on us. We've won the right to host for every month every year for 50 years. We need to make that a month the nation stops for athletics.

"We made a fuss to keep this as we need a national home of athletics - so we need to make sure we make the most of the opportunity. "

* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



More News