Miklós Gyulai, President of the Hungarian Athletics Association and key member of the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships Local Organising Committee, told AIPS:

"I am pleased to announce that with less than 200 days to go, preparations are well underway on all fronts.

"Ticket sales started in mid-December and 100,000 tickets have already been sold.

"This is the quarter of the 420,000 tickets available for the nine evening and five morning programmes.

"Tickets have already been bought from more than 70 countries; a big difference compared to the last World Championships.

"While the event in Oregon was mainly attended by spectators from the United States, we will be welcoming fans from all over Europe, as well as from further afield, such as the United States, where interest is particularly high.

"The best seats are selling out fast, so it's worth getting your tickets as soon as possible.

"Our aim is to ensure that athletes, spectators and media representatives are catered for to the maximum.

"That is why it is also important that the recruitment of volunteers has started, with 3,500 people having signed up.

"Their work will be just as important during the nine days of the World Championships as that of the members of the organising committee preparing the event."

Asked about the facilities being prepared in the Hungarian capital, Gyulai responded:

"The track events will be held in a brand new stadium, the National Athletics Centre, where 35,000 people will be able to cheer on their favourite athletes.

"The facility is being built on the banks of the Danube on a previously contaminated and now completely regenerated site.

"After the World Championships, it will be open to everyone: there will be a green park with lots of trees, a running track on the upper level of the stadium and a pedestrian-cycle bridge linking Csepel, an outer district of the capital, with the city centre.

"The completion of the National Athletics Centre will create the most modern athletics centre in the region, reviving the tradition of Hungarian athletics.

"Our athletes have collected a total of 174 Olympic, world and European medals over the past 125 years.

"Let's not forget that the outdoor world championship is the only missing element in the sport's rich history in Hungary, which includes 10 Olympic titles.

"Hungary is a peaceful, safe and welcoming country with sport at its heart.

"We have hosted every world athletics competition except the outdoor world championships, and many of you will remember the 1998 European Championships, where I also competed as a member of the 4x100 Hungarian relay.

"World competitions are a regular occurrence in our country, so a well-prepared organising team and a sporting nation will host the World Championships.

"Witness the wonder! - is the slogan of the event.

"I am sure that we will create something historic that will have a great impact on athletics and on Hungary."