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I wake up at 7.30, wondering "why am I doing this?". I arrive at the race walk course towards 8.20, with the athletes warming up: how strange it is to see men and women together. There is a group of Slovaks with blowups of Toth (at some point they will also do a ballet, but I have not been quick enough to photograph them), you can also see many Finns. I sit in the stands, but in reality it is the place where you can see less, because the structures obstruct the view, so after the start I move on the road. On one side there are the kiosks obstrcting the view, so I move to the other: luckily I was near the end of the course, with the inversion (unlike on other occasions, like London, there are no crossings). On the first lap the men are divided into three groups: Henriques gets camouflaged in the third, so the speaker does not notice her and believes that the Czech who is actually second is in the lead.
I wake up at 7.30, wondering "why am I doing this?". I arrive at the race walk course towards 8.20, with the athletes warming up: how strange it is to see men and women together. There is a group of Slovaks with blowups of Toth (at some point they will also do a ballet, but I have not been quick enough to photograph them), you can also see many Finns. I sit in the stands, but in reality it is the place where you can see less, because the structures obstruct the view, so after the start I move on the road. On one side there are the kiosks obstrcting the view, so I move to the other: luckily I was near the end of the course, with the inversion (unlike on other occasions, like London, there are no crossings). On the first lap the men are divided into three groups: Henriques gets camouflaged in the third, so the speaker does not notice her and believes that the Czech who is actually second is in the lead.
After the third lap, with Henriques ahead of many men and more or less equidistant between the first of the men and the second of the women, I head towards the stadium. I arrive around 9.40, just in time for Cairoli's heat which was my goal. I'm really happy to have an Italian to cheer for in the decathlon. I am at the start of the second bend, in an excellent position for the shot put, the only race without Italians (but then there is also the decathlon one). Too bad not to be there, one goes to the final with 17.17. I should have been in the sixth row, but there are so many free places, I stop higher. I also see the discus well, while for long jump I see the run, but I can not get an idea of the measure.
The real problem, however, is the heat: truly devastating, at a certain point I can not think of anything else. Even taking a drink is a challenge: the kiosks in my sector are all closed, I have to go around at least a quarter of the stadium. In doing so, I miss Cairoli's 7.49 in long jump. The decathlon's LJ ends with the disaster of the French: 9 fouls in 3! Mayer is interviewed (in French), greets with "Ich liebe dich" and gets the applause of the Germans. Of the 4 left with zero in LJ (there is also the German Brugger) he will be the only one not to continue.
I return to the stadium around 6.20, but because of the queue at the kiosk I get in soon after the start of the races (6.30). I come to my seat to find out that it does not exist: it has been abolished to make room for the cameras. They give me another one, always in the front row of the second ring: seat 12, and the first 11 are all occupied. 12 occupied seats in a row are still an exception: many will remain empty, especially the second deck on the curves is almost desert. They will announce that the tickets sold are 34,882, so less than half the capacity.
After 10,000 the program, very tight up until then, becomes less intense: the only field event left is shot put. There are the 400 of the decatlon, with Cairoli closing the day sixth (an Italian sixth in the decatlon: you have to repeat it, otherwise you do not believe), then the 100 women, then the SP ends, with the partial German disappointment and only the100 are left. At that point some spectators leave: I had never seen people who do not wait for the final of 100. Luckily I read abou tthe forfeit of Vicault, because otherwise I do not know if I would have understood: on the board he results starting, the speaker simply skips him. The hopes for Tortu increase, but remain disappointed. Anyways, there will be time to take a revenge and we still close the day with a medal.
At the subway station the crowd scares, but you still manage to take the first ride, and you are not even very pressed. A couple from Rome is coming with me: we comment that in our city such a crowd would be ordinary.
P.S. For a technical problem I only have photos of the morning
The seat has the inconvenience of requiring to bend a little to avoid the balustrade, but on the other hand the view is excellent for all events, but especially for the shot put. Too bad there are no horizontal jumps, the position would be ideal. I have to use the binoculars only for the 100 and for the arrival of track events (they are on the opposite straight.) In pole vault, at the beginning it is difficult to see the bar because of the light, but then it improves.
Before 10,000 I find the courage to make my way and get something. This time it's easier, there's a kiosk on the second ring, just outside the gate. Great race of Crippa: behind, several times seems to be about to lose contact, instead the Others fade away and he remains. At the last corner I hoped he would fool them all like in the U23 European Championship (in 5000): he does not get that much, but he's still third.
At the subway station the crowd scares, but you still manage to take the first ride, and you are not even very pressed. A couple from Rome is coming with me: we comment that in our city such a crowd would be ordinary.
P.S. For a technical problem I only have photos of the morning
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