On April 14, World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon and Balazs Nemeth, CEO of the LOC of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, officially opened the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) Heritage Athletics Exhibition in Budapest.
LOC co-chair Miklos Gyulai, President of the Hungarian Athletics Association and a host of top Hungarian athletes including 2018 world indoor shot put gold medallist Anita Marton and 2012 Olympic hammer throw champion Krisztian Pars were part of the team that cut the ribbon.
The spectacular exhibition celebrates the 40th anniversary of the World Athletics Championships, the first edition of which took place in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983 and showcases the history of Hungarian athletics.
The MOWA Heritage Exhibition Budapest 2023 is the world’s largest-ever display of athletics competition clothing, shoes, equipment and trophies donated by many of the greatest athletes in our sport's history.
The exhibition is enriched by historic Hungarian athletics artifacts that have never been publicly displayed before.
Located in Etele Plaza, Budapest’s newest shopping mall, the huge (600m2) display is open to the public for five months, closing at the end of the final day of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (19-27 August 2023).
“The opening of the MOWA exhibition marks an important milestone on the journey to the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, the greatest sports event in the history of Hungary and in the world this year,” said Ridgeon, the 1987 world 110m hurdles silver medallist.
“From Carl Lewis’ three golds that highlighted the inaugural championships in 1983 to the three world records set by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Tobi Amusan and Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis that grabbed the world’s attention in Oregon last year, the World Athletics Championships has been centre stage of global sporting entertainment for four decades.”
Nemeth, CEO of Budapest 2023 added: “Although the competition itself is still five months away, the MOWA exhibition will give visitors a taste of the wonderful world of athletics.
“The fascinating exhibition is the perfect opportunity for fans and those new to athletics to get a glimpse of the pinnacle event of the queen of sports, the World Championships. It is a bit like watching the WCH Budapest 23, its superheroes who inspire us to take up sport and live healthier.”
