Apart from a few august dignitaries of the International Association of Athletics Federations who were obliged to purchase new clothes (their dress kit is still in an ever-rising pile of cases at Terminal 5, while they are now back home in Monaco), and the athletes who travelled 4500 miles from Rwanda only to miss the World Cross Country Championships completely, Edinburgh showcased an outstanding success. Though you wouldn't know it from the London-centric English media who virtually ingored it.
However, Scotland's reputation has travelled much further. The US is to take advice from the organisers, scottishathletics, whose credibility was significantly enhanced. The Americans have designs on the 2010 event (it's in Jordan next year) and have asked for help. The Scots hope to copy US initiatives that made them the most successful male Caucasian nation at Holyrood, seventh and sixth respectively in the senior and junior events at Holyrood.
"What's emerging is that as nations like the USA, Australia and Japan creep towards the podium, there has to be a concerted approach from non-African nations as to the best way to keep the event alive and maintain non-African interest," said Geoff Wightman, the scottishathletics chief executive.
"We have to find a formula that gives other countries the chance to launch a fightback. The way the Americans ran, the Australian women, and one of the Japanese teams, shows a glimmer of hope. It suggests squad-based approaches, training camp-based, are beginning to pay off and turn things around."
Scotland endurance coach, Mike Johnson, met Mary Wittenberg, the ING New York Marathon chief executive, to discuss these. "We want to see what we could mirror for our endurance activities," said Wightman.
Wittenberg advised Pete Julian, who hopes to stage the 2010 world cross in Boulder, Colorado to talk to Wightman. "There's no point reinventing the wheel," she told The Herald yesterday. "We'd love to do it ourselves, and have looked at Central Park and Meadowlands Race Course New Jersey, where it was held in 1984 but unlike other New York Marathon events, we don't own the TV rights or title sponsorship. Without concessions we'd be looking at quite a healthy bill, perhaps more then $3m. So right now we're not planning to bid, but I am very happy to back Boulder.
"I think it is key that we have a global sport. When you look at cross country you can't have just one country dominate it. The same is true of where it's held, and the US is such a big media market. If we are serious about world cross country, it has to be run in the US."
Wightman said Julian has "already asked us to go out there and to present to them. There is a little alliance of nations working out how this event is not just successful to watch, but can be part of the endurance-running revival in these countries."
Paul Bush, chief executive of EventScotland who put £350,000 into the championships said they'd been worth approaching £2m to the city. "There was great visibility for Scotland, Edinburgh, and athletics on TV, and it was an excellent chance to build a relationship with athletics," he said. "We have designs on the European or world track championships in Glasgow, at the National Indoor Arena. It takes a while to build these kind of relationships with the IAAF, and it helped that Scotland delivered very well.
"The TV athletics market is growing all the time. The signal went to 39 countries last year when we did the Norwich Union meeting in Glasgow, but that was up to 88 this year. Figures for last Sunday aren't available yet, but we're optimistic. What was demonstrated was Scotland's ability to put on a world-class event in a world-class environment."
The events market, as Bush outlined, is vulnerable, however, on other fronts, notably taxation. Event-scotland paid the tax bill for all of the prize money put up by the IAAF in Edinburgh.
However, he warned that something on a larger scale, "like a European football tournament, or the Rugby World Cup which is currently being considered by the Scottish Rugby Union, could have problems with taxation. You would struggle to cover a tax bill of that size."
The impact of Heathrow's baggage problems surfaced yesterday at an events conference in Birmingham, referred to there by Sir Keith Mills, vice-chair of the London Olympic Organising Committee. It will create very negative vibes for tourism.
Most athletes travel with their spikes in cabin baggage, but not the Jordanians. WGT, the travel firm used by UK Athletics, had to drive them to a sports shop on Saturday to buy replacement kit and spikes.
However, Heathrow can't be blamed for the failure of Rwanda's five athletes to get to the start line at Holyrood.
The team had been issued with employment visas, which a WGT spokesman confirmed had been unacceptable to the Kenyan airline bringing them to London.
The runners went back to the embassy, in Nairobi, which was specially opened for them, and the appropriate visas were issued. They caught the next flight, overnight, but it arrived late in London, and they missed their connection to Edinburgh. They arrived when the event was already under way. They were driven straight to the team residence at Pollock Halls, less than a mile from the course. "They watched the senior race on my laptop, just after they arrived," said Liz Mendl. "I was devastated for them. All we could do was arrange to take them for lunch."
When The Herald attempted to speak to the Rwandan team yesterday they had already left.
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