Women's 5000m on the blue track of the Olympic stadium at the 2006 DKB-ISTAF Berlin (© Getty Images)
One major goal has been accomplished by the organisers of the DKB-ISTAF Berlin already before the first event of Sunday’s IAAF Golden League meeting in Berlin’s Olympic stadium. For the first time in the history of Germany’s number one athletics meeting there will be a capacity crowd in the Olympic Stadium.
70,000 people are expected to come into the arena, which will host the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, in 2009, and if this number is reached on Sunday it will be a record for the IAAF Golden League and a statistic that fits perfectly with the 70th jubilee edition of the ISTAF meeting.
“It had been our aim to get 70,000 for the 70th meeting,” said Meeting Director Gerhard Janetzky, who can indeed be proud of this achievement. Two years before the World Championships the DKB-ISTAF Berlin organisers show how to fill a huge arena.
A large number of people will travel from outside Berlin and even from western Germany to Berlin for an athletics festival. In cooperation with the main sponsor DKB special packages including a bus journey were offered. This result is an amazing number of spectators coming to Berlin by bus. To be exact: 790 buses are expected to carry more than 30,000 people to the stadium on Sunday. Some will come from as far as Leverkusen, which is about a six hour journey by road!
15 World records
It was only at the very first ISTAF in 1937, that had an even bigger attendance was achieved. A year after the 1936 Olympic Games, 80,000 people came to see the competition which included two World records. There have been a total of 15 set in ISTAF history. At that time the capacity of the Olympic Stadium was bigger than the newly refurbished stadium has today, a figure well in excess of 80,000.
Great champions return for celebration
On Sunday a number of former great athletes will come to the DKB-ISTAF as guests of honour. Among them are Rosemarie Ackermann, who broke the two metre barrier in the High Jump in 1977, Heide Ecker (Rosendahl), who will watch her son Danny compete in the Pole Vault, and Olympic and World champion Long Jumper Heike Drechsler. Among the men are 1983 World 800m Champion Willi Wülbeck, and two living legends of our sport 400m hurdler Edwin Moses and pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, now senior IAAF Vice-President, all three were big crowd favourites in Berlin during their eras.
“The ISTAF has always been a very special meeting for me. It was one of the most important ones during my seasons and I will never forget the fantastic crowd support,” confirms Bubka, the current World record holder who won the Pole Vault at the ISTAF seven times between 1985 and 1997. He still holds the meeting record of 6.05 metres.
“Berlin had been my second home”, says Bubka, who lived in the city for a couple of years. Actually his flat was next to the stadium. “I have not been at the ISTAF for a couple of years so I am looking very forward to see the rebuilt Olympic Stadium for the first time. I was always impressed by the historic dimension of the arena.”
Back on track to greatness
There have been ups and downs in the history of the ISTAF. It was the long time meeting director Rudi Thiel who established the meeting as one of the world’s finest. In 1985, ISTAF was among the first set of meetings that belonged to the IAAF Grand Prix Series. Three years later it hosted the IAAF Grand Prix Final. Together with organisers from Oslo, Zurich and Brussels, Rudi Thiel founded the Golden Four Series in 1993, which was the predecessor of the IAAF Golden League that started in 1998.
But when it came to finding a successor of Rudi Thiel ISTAF ran into trouble by the end of spring 2002 it looked like the end was insight but then Berlin industrialist Werner Gegenbauer jumped in and saved the meeting. He put his former school friend Gerhard Janetzky in charge as Managing Director who has guided the ISTAF back onto a successful track.
On its 70th birthday prospects look promising that in future the event will be as great as it was in the past. In the 1990’s up to 25 Olympic Champions and 27 World Champions took part in the ISTAF.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
World records at the ISTAF
15 World records have been tied or broken in the history of the ISTAF. It is eight years ago since the last mark was broken: Hicham El Guerrouj’s 2000m record which still stands today.
1. 100m , 11.6 - 1937
Stanislawa Walasiewicz (POL)
2. 80mh 11.6 - 1937
Barbara Burke (RSA)
3. 3000m 8:24.4 - 1939
Miklós Szabó (HUN)
4. Long Jump 6.12m - 1939
Christel Schulz (GER)
5. 3000m Steeplechase 8:22.0 - 1970
Kerry O’Brien (AUS)
6. 100m 9.9 - 1975
Steve Williams (USA)
7. 110m Hurdles 13.0 - 1975
Guy Drut (FRA)
8. High Jump 1.97 - 1977
Rosemarie Ackermann (GDR)
9. High Jump 2.00 - 1977
Rosemarie Ackermann (GDR)
10. 1000m 2:32,0 - 1978
Ulrike Bruns (GDR)
11. 400m Hurdles 55.44 - 1978
Krystyna Kacperczyk (POL)
12. 1500m 3:29.46 - 1985
Said Aouita (MAR)
13. 10,000m 27:08.23 - 1989
Arturo Barrios (MEX)
14. 1000m 2:30.67 - 1990
Christine Wachtel (GDR)
15. 2000m 4:44.79 - 1999
Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
