One Olympics, two World Athletics Championships, couple of European Championships, world and European ice hockey and figure skating. Helsinki is in the habit of hosting high profile sporting events — more importantly without disturbing the serenity of the city with it’s flawless organisational skills and enthusiatic participation of the locals.So much so that after the just-concluded World Athletics Championship Helsinki was bestowed with the first World Athletics City Award. Such as been the Finn finesse that there is a lesson in it for all to learn. The Chinese, who would be hosting the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, are here and were seen taking notes. The same is true for the Japanese, who will be scheduled to host the next World Athletics Meet in Osaka. Though Delhi has time on hand to plan the 2010 Commonwealth Games in 2010 but checking the Helsinki blue print wouldn’t be a bad idea.The meticulous planning and precise execution apart, what was admirable about the championships was the dedication of the local volunteers and some ingenious planning.A novelty adopted by the organsiers in raising revenue was to put the daily programme schedule on sale through volunteers. Printed in glossy with pictures of athletes and prized at 5 Euros each, the booklet had all basic information, including what to look for on the particular day with previous day’s results.The organisers say that they had lost 10 to 15 per cent of earnings owing to the weather conditions. Nevertheless, they admitted that they would be able to break even. The revenue, largely through the sale of television rights, should take care of whatever little investment they had made to host the event. Deficit, if any, for the government, they said, would be made up by the tourist inflow into the Nordic capital.During the entire championships, neither the locals nor the tourists had to face any difficulty. A well-publicised traffic diversions at all bus and tram stations during walk and marathon races, plus information providers at several of kiosks dotting the city made life easier.The Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen came for the opening and closing days, respectively, but not once the traffic was put on hold inconveniencing the public.The organsiers had cleverly separated the ceremonies and the events, unlike what we see home. Moreover all the former sporting greats were invited to present medals to the winners, not the politicians. These are lessons for India who will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in 2010. Hope we learn fast.
