On the Scene in Daegu -- Challenges for Media Covering IAAF World Champs

(ATR) A faraway mixed zone, infrequent transportation and "love motels" were some of the challenges media faced covering the IAAF World Championships. However, food service improved every day and volunteers were extremely helpful.

Media who been in Berlin for the 2009 Worlds were dismayed when they took their first trip to the mixed zone. In Berlin, they could simply go down the steps through the stands, and the mixed zone was about 25 meters from the bottom. In Daegu, the mixed zone was at least 6 minutes away.

From their seats in the tribune, media had to walk past several sections, go down a walkway, through the Main Press Center, down some steps, into a long corridor in which they crossed two active roadways, then across another huge open space before reaching the scrum in the mixed zone.

"It's basically impossible to watch anything from up top and get down to the mixed zone without killing yourself in the process," said David Monti, who was writing for The Eugene Register-Guard, the IAAF, and his own news service Race Results Weekly

"Berlin had a shortcut, but this is hard."

By the end of the championships, organizers offered a couple of golf carts to give rides to the mixed zone, but the carts seldom had drivers.

Monti, covering his eighth World Championships, said the organization was uneven. "They're starting off from a handicap because they don't have a transit system that goes right to the stadium," he said. "So, that already makes it subject to the whims of traffic, which is a big problem."

Journalists complained that the transportation was not frequent enough. Monti said he if failed to catch an 11:20 bus from the station, the next bus was not until 2 a.m.

On the bright side, if media were stranded at the press center, they had plenty of food. When the competition began, food choices in the stadium were limited to dried fish, potato chips, ice cream, Mentos, noodle bowls and other foodstuffs that were unidentifiable to some Western media.

Nicole Jeffery of The Australian said she and some of her colleagues had been skipping meals because "there's nothing there that I want to eat."

The media restaurant, a buffet on the second floor of the accreditation center, was not very good and also expensive at about $13.

Sensing the discontent, staff at the Main Press Center took action.

On Day 3, they brought out bananas and juice boxes for the media. "It's nice that they bring us bananas occasionally when they think we need sustenance," said J. Stuart Weir of The Oxford Mail in Great Britain, who was covering his second Worlds.

By the end of the Championships, offerings included sandwiches, oranges, cheese, apples and whole baked potatoes. The potatoes were not popular, but the beer in the refrigerators didn't last long.

"The media restaurant is terrible, but we found one across the street, the Cup of Coffee Café," Monti said. "They have some of the bases covered here, they have very good Internet, which hasn't gone down once, and they don't charge for that. Better and more accessible food service I think is critical, and good coffee. For instance, they need to get milk. It's a small thing, but not really when you'retoiling away here for hours on end."

Weir said he had enjoyed a brilliant working experience despite the very long days. "It's such a shame that the mixed zone is such a long way from the tribune. Apart from that, I think the organization has been very good. The buses have been very reliable. The volunteers are incredibly helpful, friendly."

But that didn't make up for accommodations unlike any the media had encountered at similar competitions. "Love motels," which cater to a short-term clientele, were added to the list of official accommodations, with better choices about an hour away.

"I think that it's clearly obvious that this city does not have enough accommodation to house everybody who normally comes to a World Championships," Jeffery said. "We've got the parents of some of our medalists who are staying in Pusan, a bullet train ride, an hour away. The hotels that are available are really not up to the standard that we need when we're working really long hours.

"So, accommodation-wise, the city can't cope. It's the IAAF's responsibility to make sure that when they award these things, that it doesn't just make financial sense, but that it's logistically possible for that city to do the job."

Whatever the aches and pains caused by the challenges, organizers did have an unprecedented solution: free head and neck massages. And this perk was convenient. It was right next to the press conference room.

Written in Daegu, South Korea by Karen Rosen.

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