Organisers of the World Firefighter Games at the Echo Arena Liverpool have hailed the event as one of the "best ever".
4 Sep 08
Thousands of firefighters from across the globe descended on the venue to take part in events such as the Toughest Firefighter Alive, the Firehouse cook-off as well as more traditional pursuits such as boxing and football.
The event is estimated to have generated up to £2.8m for the city via revenue from hotels, restaurants, shops and tourist attractions.
Tim Banfield, general manager of the Echo Arena, said: "With almost 3000 competitors this was one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
"The range of events meant the arena had to be extremely flexible to accommodate everything from karate to table tennis.
"Looking after thousands of contestants, from around the globe, many of whom did not speak English, also provided its own challenges but our staff managed the event superbly."
Liverpool City Council leader Warren Bradley, who is also a firefighter, added: "The World Firefighter Games is an extremely prestigious event. It is a fantastic accolade for Liverpool to have been the host city.
"The overwhelming feedback is that the event was one of the best-ever and that is largely due to the impressive facilities the Echo Arena has to offer."
The 2008 Games opened on August 25 and ran for ten days with competitors from as far a-field as Brazil, Australia, Canada and Hong Kong, competing in 73 events.
The Echo Arena was used as the athletes' village and also hosted some of the main events including boxing and martial arts.
ACC Liverpool has hosted a number of events during the city's Capital of Culture year, including the launch ceremony in January and later this year will stage the MTV European Music Awards, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards and the Stirling Prize.
ACC Liverpool consists of the 10,600-seat Echo Arena and the state of the art BT Convention Centre. The latter features a 1,350 seat auditorium, a 3725 sq metre multi-purpose hall 18 meeting rooms and total exhibition space in excess of 7000 sq metres.
The facility’s partners are Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, national regeneration agency English Partnerships, the European Objective One programme and the North West Regional Development Agency.