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FEATURES
OLAF BROCKMANN
Sprinting through 40 years of World Championships
From Helsinki 1983 to Budapest 2023 - Memories and Anecdotes – From Telex to modern Laptops - Don't trust the Internet and learn History!
By Olaf Brockmann
Kronen Zeitung
40 years of World Athletics Cham- pionships! What an incredible journey I have been privileged to experience as a journalist at all 19 World Championships to date. It has also been a journey through the trans- formation of the working conditions from the very beginning with comput- ers to the transmission via impeccable internet connections. Countless images from these 40 years flicker through my mind. Here I want to share just a few of my memories.
AWAY WITH THE COMPUTER! How was the transmission of the texts in Helsinki 1983? Young colleagues have no idea! In the press tribune, we tried to send the reports for the first time from a precursor of today's computers. This was kind of a huge suitcase, which barely had room on the cramped press tribune. Using an acoustic coupler, we connected the device to the phone we had ordered earlier. The transmission failed a few times. Away with the com- puter! Back to the travel typewriter! In the press centre we used a telex for transmission.
“WILLIIII, WILLIII” In Helsinki my high-
light was Willi Wülbeck's sensational
800m victory with a German record
of 1:43.65, which still remains today. I
can still see his storming run on to gold,
and the subsequent shouts of "Williii, Williii", which echoed from a bend af-
ter his victory, can still be heard today.
My current report remains one of my 2023
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favourite stories, especially as Wülbeck is one of the finest athletes I have had the pleasure of getting to know.
INFIELD WITH POWELL Somehow in Tokyo 1991 I had sneaked past all the security guards into the stadium and experienced the duel of the century
At the press tribune during my 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest 2023
between Mike Powell and Carl Lewis infield. Lewis jumped a wind-assisted 8.91m. A little later, Powell obliterated Bob Beamon's 23-year-old world re- cord (8.90m) with 8.95m. Together with Powell, I left the infield and was the first journalist to be able to interview him.
FOOD AND DRINK WITHOUT END Nev- er have the media representatives been more pampered and cared for at a World Championships than in Athens 1997. Food and drink without end. The background: Athens had not won the bid for the 1996 Olympic Games, "Coca Cola" and "CNN" had brought these Games to Atlanta. Now, shortly before the 2004 Games were awarded, Athens came up trumps. The PR ma- chinery was running perfectly. Athens was awarded the Games.
Honoured by AIPS and Javier Sotomayor for having covered all 19 World Athletics Championships. Budapest, 23rd August
PHOTO BY OLAF BROCKMANN
PHOTO BY OLAF BROCKMANN