Paula Radcliffe has described the empty stands at the European Athletics Championships as “a shame” after the event in Birmingham came under fire for its expensive prices.
Nearly 10,000 empty seats were available on the first evening of the Championships as 13,623 people watched Great Britain’s Amy Hunt sprint her way to 100m glory at the Alexander Stadium.
Extortionate food and drinks prices have also been called out – supporters are being made to pay as much as £18.50 for a BBQ pork roll and chips, while a bottle of water costs nearly £4 from vendors in and around the stadium.
Fans were being made to pay £150 for a Category A ticket on Monday evening and while prices for those tickets dropped by £40 for Tuesday and Wednesday, they rocket back up to £150 for the final four evenings of the tournament with no discount for concessions. The cheapest ticket in Category E is £26.
Radcliffe – who competed for Great Britain at four consecutive Olympic Games between 1996 and 2008 – exclusively told the Press Association: “It is a shame because I think there is the willingness but I don’t know whether perhaps as a sport we need to look at the pricing and accessibility for those tickets.
“Nothing beats a stadium seeing a home victory, feeling the buzz and the hairs on your arms stand up, it’s really special.
“It’s fighting with many more different sports now, that’s the truth. We have so many different sports available to choose from, it’s about standing above the rest.
“It’s about giving the opportunity to see and experience it live in person but some people are not able to afford expensive prices.
“Something like athletics, the best experience is in the stadium or on the side of the road rather than TV.”
Attendance on Tuesday evening was seemingly higher but empty seats were still scattered across the stadium to watch the men’s 100m athletes in action.
Fans turned up to the Alexander Stadium to find there is no on-site parking and are being forced to cough up £22.50 for a park and ride service which serves as an inconvenience.
Many people have spoken out on social media while former Aston Villa striker Stan Collymore also branded the pricing “tone deaf”.
He posted on X: “Weather is amazing and the sport needs as many eyeballs as possible so kids for a quid!! £150/£100/£70 for the 3 categories at the weekend is aimed at who? Not families and kids who may want to be athletes!”
All eyes are on the championships in the UK this week after London formally submitted a bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships in London and the empty seats inside stadiums are not a good look.
Some prices on the concourse differ from the food vans sitting on the premises and PA understands that organisers have no control over the expensive sausage rolls outside the stadium.
Birmingham 2026 responded to criticism and said they were “delighted” with ticket sales which have “surpassed” targets and say Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening sessions are approaching sell-out.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy also defended ticket prices and says numbers will pick up as the week goes on.
She said: “Some of the ticket prices are higher but half of all the tickets here at the championships are £30 and under. Organisers have really worked to make it accessible.
“The numbers have been a bit low being the first few days. I think we will see that rise steadily and hoping for big numbers this weekend.”
