The Electronic Telegraph Thursday 10 May 2001 Tom Knight GATESHEAD could be facing its last summer as a venue for big-time athletics, according to the promoters of Britain's televised meetings. The Gateshead International Stadium, which opened in 1974 with a 3,000-metres world record from one of the North-East's favourite sons, Brendan Foster, was once regarded as an athletics bastion, with the country's best meetings and fanatical, capacity crowds. However, according to Fast Track, the company owned by Alan Pascoe, Foster's former international team-mate, the stadium's poor attendance record has put its future in doubt. If the stadium does not sell out for the Norwich Union Classic on Aug 19, then the most lucrative Grand Prix II meeting on the circuit, with prize money totalling $360,000, could be looking for a new home from next season. Jon Ridgeon, Fast Track's director of athletics, said: "Four years ago you couldn't give these meetings away, but now they are in big demand, with cities like Sheffield, Manchester and Belfast wanting to be involved." Foster said: "It would be very sad if a London-based organisation decided that Gateshead could not host top-class meetings. But it could mean that an organisation in the North-East, who know how to sell meetings, could take over." Eamonn Condon WWW.RunnersGoal.com
