WORLD athletics
(chloe montague) a lookbook //
championships
ATHLETICS
CHAMPIONSHIPS )
( WORLD
// the walk to the press tribune
A NOTE FROM SECTION 219
CURRENTLY: 8:00 PM, July 24. I am sitting in the press tribune -- the media workspaces at the top of section 219. It’s day ten of worlds. The 4x4 -- the final event of the meet -- is about to start. They’re announcing the women right now: “In lane five...” (spoiler: it’s the US, who are coming in with the fastest time, and who, as a completely non-biased member of the media, I am really, really hoping win.)
They’re playing “Welcome to the Jungle.” Guns n’ Roses. Stupidly, I get a little emotional. This is my road trip freeway on-ramp song; ask any of my friends. On the far side of the track, as Axl Rose screams into the bridge, Mondo Duplantis attempts the world record. He misses. The crowd emits an “awww.”
The women take their marks. Things get silent. And in the silence, I feel a twang of... sadness? What? Hahaha, nooo, it’s definitely just Guns N’ Roses. Obviously. That song always does a number on me.
The gun goes off. Talitha Diggs starts. It looks pretty even. I realize I’ve spent almost all of my time these last ten days in the stadium. But somehow it’s not until now -- less than three minutes from it being over -- that I actually realize I’m here, that it hits me how crazy this is. I’ve gotten to spend the last ten days of my life watching the best athletes in the world do their thing. Okay, okay, actually I might be a little emotional.
Abby Steiner takes the baton. She pulls ahead. I’ve been working here as an intern through the UO’s School of Journalism and Communication, helping World Athletics with graphics, gathering media for socials, and taking photos in my spare time. It’s been pretty cool (understatement). I’ve heard so many languages. I’ve seen a lot of cool shoes. I’ve met some athletes and even gotten to work with a few of them.
And I’ve spent the last ten days with this crowd, with these sounds: the pre-race silence, the roars, and the World Athletics anthem, which, repetitive and irritating as it is, I’ll miss just a bit.
It goes to Britton WIlson. This girl is so cool. She pulls far, far ahead. I’m mostly typing now to pretend I’m not actually nervous. Or emotional that there’s less than two minutes left.
Tomorrow, I won’t even come to the stadium... The media has joined the crowd on its feet. All around me, journalists stand up and peer down at the track.
And then Sydney McLaughlin. Two nights ago I watched her beat her own world record in the 400 hurdles. It’s not really a race at this point. They win. It’s insane. As they cross the finish line, “I Love It” comes on. This one doesn’t get me quite as bad as “Welcome to the Jungle,” but... still. And then I look up and Mondo is running down the pole vault runway. He clears it. It’s a world record. The crowd, already on its feet from the 4x4, grows so loud the whole place is vibrating.
Just a few minutes later, people are streaming down from the stands. I see the speckled green of the seats emerge. Most days, I’ve been here before the crowd arrives and after it leaves. Before and after, the stadium is speckled green; during, it’s more golden-brown, the visual conglomeration of thousands and thousands of people.
THE LOOKBOOK //
I was able to shoot photos the first few days, but without an official photo credential, it got... tricky. When my camera could no longer be my lens through which to look at worlds, I turned to design instead. This lookbook is the event from my view up in the press tribune, which has been my home throughout worlds. Besides photos from earlier on, I’ve turned to other media: phone shots that document my trajectory through the event grounds, color/text, and representations of the other space I’ve operated extensively within these last few days: my desktop (which is the most disastrous it’s ever been, thanks to all this week’s photos and files).
This is World Athletics Championships from section 219, as seen by a student photojournalist/graphicsperson (?? I don’t even know at this point) experiencing the event.
(Note: embarrassingly, Team USA does not know how to dance to Shout. Next year, I guess.)
- chlo
(the mixed 4x4)
(the silence)
silence)
(the race)
raven saunders // on the concourse
“so how fast do they go?” (so fast your camera can barely keep up)
POST // PROCESSING
PROCESSING
(desktop = chaos) (but the good kind)
(the aftermath)
