Before appearing at Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday, a number of Weltklasse Zürich stars met with children aged 7 to 15 years for a very special training session. One of the most popular celebrity coaches was of course new European champion Kariem Hussein.
Eleven days after his stunning run for 400m h gold, Hussein returned to his home arena to meet and train with the city’s youngest athletics fans. It was no surprise that the group of kids who wanted to try hurdling was particularly large this year: “I came to see Kariem,” said Safiya Schwarz, one of the fans who became interested in the sophisticated event because of the 25-year-old Swiss star.
Once a football player, Hussein remembers his own first steps in hurdling well: „It felt great right away. Almost like love at first sight.” Today, only few years down the road, the model athlete is European champion – and a crowd favourite. He signed autographs, took photographs with fans of all ages, and talked to media representatives: “I am really looking forward to race here on Thursday.”
The international stars enjoyed the traditional training session, as well: „This is a great way of introducing our sport to kids. I will keep the idea in mind for our meeting in the Bahamas,” said Chris Brown, 4x400m Olympic champion and meeting promoter.
Kambundji and Felix in Thun, Büchel and Rudisha in Teufen
Once again, several athletes also travelled to various Swiss towns to share their passion for athletics with kids. Swiss sprint record holder Mujinga Kambundji and Olympic champion Allyson Felix (USA) trained with a group of motivated kids in Thun, while 800m athlete Selina Büchel and world record holder David Rudisha (KEN) met with many excited fans in Teufen. All in all, more than 1000 children participated in the Weltklasse Zürich training sessions at towns in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and in Ticino.
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27 August, 2014
