IAAF World Track Championships

The IAAF World Track Championships were held in Daegu, Korea this year, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend them. We took a school trip to the Daegu Stadium (originally built for the World Cup) where the events were being held. The stadium is massive and very, very cool. It would be really amazing to see a soccer game in this stadium because of the closeness to the field and the massive screens that show you the field.

The day that we went, it was incredibly warm. The heat index, I was told, was 98 degrees and it was miserably humid out. I drank 2 water bottles, an energy drink, and my entire big water bottle that day... and I was still thirsty. Luckily, I did not get burned due to my neat little visor (see pictures) and the massive amount of suntan lotion I had on. We had excellent seats, almost on top of the field, and the area to our right was where the athletes would walk up in order to change and talk to the international press, so that was how I managed to get some great pictures of the athletes.

The day we went, we watched the women's javelin, the men's shot-put, the women's high jump, the men's long jump, and a plethora of races. It was also really cool to see the man they call "blade runner". He runs for Jamaica, and he has no legs below the knees... instead he has the running blades that he uses to race... I am amazed that he still competes like that and I couldn't help but to cheer. I was also able to see the runner, Caster Semenya, who has had disputes a couple of times due to her gender... she is considered a hermaphrodite, and some question her the legally of allowing her to race against women.

The last big event that day was when some of the South Korean team came and sat down only 2 seats away from where I was sitting. The ladies sitting there allowed me to take their pictures and even posed for them... which was really cool. All in all, aside from the heat, the trip was excellent and I am so glad that I was lucky enough to get to go and see the World Championships of track.