Fürjes told MTI that over 60,000 people had visited the campus to see athletes in BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing vie for a spot at the Olympic Games in Paris during the four-day contest.



On Sunday, the last day of the qualifier, the campus crowd reached capacity and fans who arrived mid-afternoon had to wait for people to leave before being let in, he added.


The event is being broadcast on television in close to 100 countries and over 200 foreign journalists are covering the competition.

Earlier on Sunday, Zsolt Gyulay, the president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB), said one of the most important results of the four-day qualifier, which wound up on International Olympic Day, was the chance to reach age groups that didn’t follow the Olympic Games.



“That might seem strange to people who follow traditional sports, but if we look at sport climbing which has been included on the Olympic programme in a period of under four years, then these sports will soon come into their own,” he added.



Hungary was the second stop in the Olympic Qualifier Series after Shanghai.

IOC Head Commends Budapest on Olympic Qualifier Series

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has lauded Budapest for hosting the second stop in the inaugural Olympic Qualifier Series, after the four-day best-in-class competition for athletes in BMX freestyle, breaking, sport climbing and skateboarding came to a close. “Congratulations to Budapest.

The atmosphere here was great. The event combined the joy of sport, the culture of these urban sports and the athletes’ determination to make their individual Olympic dreams come true,” Bach said in a statement late on Sunday.

“The two stops in Budapest and Shanghai made a perfect first edition of the OQS. Thank you to both hosts for their creativity and determination to make the two events a great success,” he said.

Over 150 athletes successfully secured their quota places for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the OQS, hosted by Shanghai in May and Budapest in June.

Balázs Fürjes, an IOC member who co-chairs the organising committee for the contest, said it was a “tremendous honour” for Budapest to host the OQS after Shanghai.

“We are grateful to the Shanghai organisers for getting the OQS off to a great start, and we are proud to have seen it through to its final stage,” he added.

The Budapest OQS drew 60,000 spectators to the campus of the Ludovika University of Public Service.

Over 450 athletes from more than 120 national federations across all continents competed at the festival-style event.

MTI Photos: Zoltán Balogh

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