Both events take place in Stockholm’s historic Olympic Stadium, venue
for 83 world records since 1912 and are supported by Dagens Nyheter,
one of the country’s most important newspapers.
“Although there can be up to 1000 participants, we are not staging a
mass participation event,” says Jan Kowalski, a member of the DN Galan
board. “Instead, we provide a state of the art competition opportunity,
using the same arena and set-up as the DN Galan itself so that the
participants can experience the atmosphere world’s elite athletes do.”
Overall benefits of the DN Galan Youth include a strengthening of
athletics’ place in the annual programme of the Olympic stadium and
increased collaboration between the athletics clubs in Stockholm, which
recruit and educate the volunteers required to stage the event.
The DN Galan Youth draws additional support from the IAAF, Nike and
other sponsors and offers between eight and ten events for each age
from 12 to 19 years old, including a special medley relay of
100m+200m+300m+400m. The first six in each competition receive prizes.
But what makes the day special is presentation and atmosphere.
“We do everything we can to make the event just like a Grand Prix
meeting,” says Kowalski. We make the competitors the centre of
attention with an official march-in before each event and we even have
a sponsor village.”
The event has been described as ‘a futuristic sports show with a mix of
music, sound effects and the latest technology’. Kowalski explains that
the role of technology is particularly important. As in the elite
meeting the day before, replays of each event and interviews are shown
on a giant screen in the stadium. In addition, the whole event is
streamed on the internet with live commentary.
“There were visitors from more than 25 countries, including the US and
Jamaica, logging on to the netcast and the feedback from athletes and
coaches was very positive.”
Participant registration is also via the internet. Start lists are
shown in real time, and can be edited by users until the final day for
registration.
The gala feeling is enhanced by linking the event with other
attractions in Stockholm. The organisers provide information on
accommodation and suggestions for places to go and things to do. In
future they hope to collaborate with the Gröna Lund Tivoli, Sweden’s
oldest amusement park.
In an online questionnaire that gathered feedback from 100 participants
in 2008, more than 90% of the respondents indicated that they plan to
return next year.
Kowalski says the board intends to continue the youth event and possibly to increase it to three days.
“We know we can improve in some areas such as organisation, volunteer
recruitment and marketing, but, obviously, we are happy with the
results so far.”
| Fact File | |
| Programme: | DN Galan Youth – A Gala for Youth Athletics |
| Organiser: | Stadionklubbarna (12 athletics clubs in Stockholm) |
| Start Date: | 2007 |
| Target Group: | Athletes 12-19 years old |
| Participants in 2008: | 1000 (from 14 countries) |
| Support: | Dagens Nyheter, Nike, IAAF, other commerical sponsors |
| More Information: | Jan Kowalski or Silke Burestam [email protected] |